Everyone’s ‘Ate’: Remembering Jiggly Caliente

The terrible news came in two blows.

The first one, posted on Instagram on April 24, read in part, “The family of Bianca Castro, known to many as the beloved drag performer Jiggly Caliente, is heartbroken to share that over the last month Bianca has experienced a serious health setback. Due to a severe infection, she was hospitalized and, as a result, has undergone the loss of most of her right leg.”

In the post, her family shared that Jiggly would need extensive recovery and therefore would “not be appearing in the upcoming season of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Philippines,’ nor will she be participating in any public engagements for the foreseeable future.”

People—her fellow drag queens, friends and fans—responded with an outpouring of love, well wishes, and encouragement for Jiggly.

But just days later came another heartbreaking statement: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Bianca Castro-Arabejo, known to the world and cherished by many as Jiggly Caliente. Bianca passed away peacefully on April 27, 2025, at 4:42 a.m., surrounded by her loving family and close friends.”

Once again, there was a deluge of love … mixed with grief this time.

“Rest well, my good time gal. Thank you for 20 years of laughter and friendship,” wrote Bianca Del Rio.

“My heart, my soul, my jiggles … I will always love you,” posted Michelle Visage.

“Rest in perfection, my dear Ate Jiggly. The Filipino queens are so lucky to have you in our hearts,” said Eva Le Queen.

On April 29, in Manila, Eva and other people close to Jiggly came together for a memorial where they shared touching tributes and stories about Jiggly. On May 16, the family held the funeral service in New York—“a celebration of life that will be a true reflection of her spirit—not just mourning her loss, but celebrating the incredible, unstoppable life she lived,” “a beautiful, heartfelt goodbye that she deserves.”

Jiggly was born on Nov. 29, 1980 in San Pedro, Laguna and moved to the United States with her family in 1991. She started her career as a drag queen in New York City, naming herself after the Pokemon character Jigglypuff. She competed on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 4 (“May I call you Jiggly?” RuPaul asked her and she replied, “Of course, mama. Everything jiggles.”), one of the handful of Filipino queens to compete in the original reality show that would later birth an entire universe of “Drag Race” franchises. She returned for “RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars” Season 6. She also played Veronica Ferocity in the Ryan Murphy’s FX series “Pose.”

In 2016, Jiggly came out as a proud transwoman. In 2018, she released her album “T.H.O.T. Process.”

Her family wrote, “[She] was so much more than a star or a trailblazer. She was our sister, our friend, our fierce protector, our biggest laugh in the room. She wore her heart on her sleeve and gave every piece of herself to the world—her strength, her beauty, her humor, her truth. And she asked for so little in return—just to be seen, to be loved, and to be able to love back.”

We first met Jiggly in 2019, at DragCon LA. We stopped by her booth and told her we’d really been looking for her because we wanted to tell her that her Tagalog tweets never failed to make us laugh. Jiggly, despite having lived in the US for years, never forgot about her Filipino roots. She’s Pinoy and proud of it. “Bring ‘Drag Race’ to the Philippines,” she said to us at DragCon. “I’ll host it, I’m bilingual. I’ll do it.”

Tough but loving

Back then, it seemed like a pipe dream, but in 2022, it really happened—they launched “RuPaul’s Drag Race Philippines,” with Jiggly as part of the judging panel. At the launch of the show at Xylo in BGC, she got emotional. “I am so proud of each and every one of these girls … Ngayon, tinitingnan ko kayong lahat, napakaganda,” she said, welcoming the Season 1 girls to what she calls “the sisterhood of RuGirls.”

And in this sisterhood, Jiggly was everyone’s Ate (big sister). As a judge, “our dalagang Pilipina, your RuGirl from Manila,” as host Mama Pao likes to say, was tough when she needed to be (she’s known for having a mouth on her), but her critiques came from a place of love and a real desire for the contestants to grow as drag artists. Outside the show, she was no longer a judge, she was Ate Jiggly.

Jiggly told us this herself in an interview we did as Season 1 was airing—an interview that started with her saying, “Oh my god, finally, I can talk about what happened on the show.”

She said, “I took on the responsibility of being their Ate. Before filming, I already knew some of the girls, like Turing. When I first went to the Philippines in 2016 or 2017, I did my first homecoming show, I met Turing … I took her on as my little sister because I just saw the talent and the potential in her. I saw a lot of my early self in Turing … It was funny because Turing couldn’t tell me she was auditioning for ‘Drag Race.’ And I couldn’t tell her that I’m going to be a judge because we signed contracts for everything to be quiet.”

Their closeness was something Turing also shared with us during another interview.

“Ate Jiggly, we’re very very very very very very very close. I don’t know how many verys you heard pero parang sister talaga. That’s why I value her so much and I value her opinion and her critiques,” Turing said.

And it wasn’t just Turing.

“They looked after me, especially Jiggly,” Prince told us, when asked about the show’s judges.

Lady Morgana said that after the show, Jiggly helped her with her glow-up, “Iba na din ‘yung makeup ko dahil kay Mama Jiggly. Humingi ako ng tulong sa kanya to level up Lady Morgana’s mug. Namili kami doon sa SM Aura.”

We asked Jiggly about this shopping trip and she said, “I was very honest with Morgana. Morgana, ang makeup ko, hindi biro. Hindi ako gumagamit ng cheap makeup. So kung akala mo sa Divisoria tayo pupunta, nagkakamali ka. Lahat ng makeup ko high-end, girl … I told Morgana and I tell any person who wants to use makeup, ‘Makeup goes on your face, your face is the most sensitive part of your body. So you should use good things on your face. If there’s any place in your body where you want to be cheap, that is not the place to be. Your face is your calling card, your face is the first thing people look at. It’s the one thing people will stare at, so spend money on your face, girl.”

We reported to Jiggly that Morgana was happy about the results of that shopping trip, she even said “nag-ROI na”—she got a return on her investment already.

“Their growth is beautiful to watch. I’m so proud of how they have grown,” Jiggly said of the Filipino RuGirls.

“After filming, talagang naging bunso kong kapatid lahat sila. If there’s any events that I can be at, that I can bring them along, I would do it, if it’s in my power to, of course. Lalo na kung may TF (talent fee) that I can share with all of them,” Jiggly said.

Generosity

Stories about Jiggly’s generosity abound, these were shared even back when she was still alive—how she’d always have pasalubong for the local drag queens, how she’d give away makeup, even clothes and jewelry that she was wearing.

During that hourlong interview, a chunk of which we spent laughing, Jiggly talked about her relationships with the queens and her fellow judges, her dreams for drag in the country, and movies she wanted to shoot in the Philippines.

“Now is the time for Philippine drag to go mainstream,” she said—words that would prove to be prophetic.

It meant a lot to Jiggly that “Drag Race Philippines” made herstory as the first show in the franchise to feature two transwomen as permanent judges—her and Kaladkaren.

“I thought that it was such a big deal. Transwomen have always been a part of the drag thread … It is nice that here in the Philippines, even though there is little to no rights for any person of the LGBTQ community, we are celebrating two transwomen who are intelligent, warm, and give the contestants really good sound advice.”

She took her role as a judge seriously. “I’m not the type of woman that coddles people. I’m direct … but know that it’s coming from a place of love. I’m not trying to be malicious. And being a queen that was in their position, I’m not going to give a critique for camera time. Mas gusto ko na I will leave this critique with you. It may sound harsh, but know that the fandom is going to say something even more disgusting than what I just left with you. I am not trying to hurt your feelings. It’s not a personal attack. At the end of the day, it is my job … Honestly, I know for a fact I never made personal comments to queens. I made comments and critiques on the choices they made.”

One of the highlights of Season 1 for her? Meeting guest judge Pia Wurtzbach. “There’s a video of Pia walking into the room and the producers are introducing her to us and literally kinikilig ako … Kaloka. I have met American celebrities but I have never fangirled so hard until I met Pia Wurtzbach. The running joke with all the queens is of all days that I was the sweetest at the judges’ table was the day Pia was there.”

But she was sweet. Not to say that she was a saint—in fact, Jiggly seemed to go out of her way to show people that she was tough, that she’s not someone to be messed with, and who can blame her when we live in what can be such a cruel world?

She said, “‘Drag Race’ Season 1 is the inaugural season … I want people to [receive] it with kindness and appreciate the queens that are on this season because they are truly magical. Shower them with love. ‘Yun lang talaga. Shower them with love, buy their merch … they are setting the standard now of what drag is and how amazing drag is in the Philippines, not just for them but also for the rest of the Filipino queens. Be kind to them. Make sure you tip all of them, even the local girls na hindi pa nasa ‘Drag Race.’”

Her relationship with the Filipino “Drag Race” queens can be seen too in how they pile into her hotel room and sleep over when she’s in

Manila. She talked about this after one visit. “On my last night, the queens were with me—Corazon, Morgana, Minty, Eva, Marina, Prince, Karen, all in my hotel room. It was fun, we had a great time.”

She said, “Actually, my last trip, because we never wake up early enough, I’m always telling Corazon and Prince, ‘Where can I find warm pandesal? Like, real legit pandesal from the bakery.’ That’s when Prince goes, ‘Girl, you have to be up early in the morning to go get it and you have to find a bakery.’ She was like, ‘We are in the middle of BGC, you’re not gonna find a bakery here.’”

Filipino food

Oh yes, the queen loved Filipino food. “I look for taho, scramble. People will probably think sa kaartehan ko, I’m super maarte… I’m the type of girl na if I can’t get a hot shower, I will throw a fit. But when it comes to food, sabi ni Corazon, ang babaw ng kaligayahan ko. The simplest things when it comes to food make me happy… Fishball, oh my God. When we’re filming, ‘pag may merienda order, I always ask for fishballs, that’s my go-to. Sansrival, silvanas… When I’m in the Philippines, I want Filipino food. The food is the thing I miss the most in the Philippines.”

Jollibee is always part of that list. “The first thing I look for when I get to the Philippines is Jollibee.”

Her orders? “Spaghetti and a Jolly Hotdog. I love Jolly Hotdog. The hotdogs in the Philippines just hit different. I don’t care what anybody says, it just hits different.”

At DragCon LA in July 2024, she brought Jollibee for the Season 2 girls who were attending the event for the first time. Like Eva Le Queen said at the memorial she organized for Jiggly, “Yang Jollibee, love language niya yan.”

Jiggly didn’t do a booth at DragCon last year, she had scheduling issues, but she still went to support the queens. ”I had to come, my girls are here. I have to make sure they’re all taken care of,” she told us when we caught up with her at Arizona Brandy’s booth.

She was tired, she had been traveling, and the airline had left her luggage in Detroit, but that didn’t stop her from showing up for the girls. “I’m supporting all of my Drag Race Filipino queens, all of them. All my girls.”

That weekend, she also co-produced the show “Made in Asia LA” at Micky’s West Hollywood. It featured a number of “Drag Race Philippines” queens. She was also excited about their trip to Disney that following Monday.

Next year, she vowed, she’ll bring Jollibee again for the Season 3 girls. At that point, Season 3—which has since been declared by many as the best season of “Drag Race Philippines” so far—was still a few weeks away from premiering. Jiggly had said, “Season 3 is a season that will be able to stand on its own. You can watch Season 3 of ‘Drag Race Philippines’ and not see Season 1 and 2 and fall in love with a brand new set of girls. These girls are really, really amazing. And I will say this, the girl group… Of all the franchises, I think the Filipinos, our girl group episodes are always really good.”

The Filipino RuGirls were getting a lot of love at DragCon that weekend. Did it surprise Jiggly that the world fell in love with Filipino drag or was it something she expected?

“I expected it. I wasn’t shocked that the fans fell in love with ‘Drag Race Philippines.’ I was surprised by the amount. I knew they were going to like it but I didn’t know that we were going to be one of the top franchises. And I say that proudly because our ratings don’t lie. The numbers do not lie.”

We asked how she felt about more and more Filipino queens being at DragCon and entering the world of “Drag Race.” We didn’t know it then but it would be our last interview with her, the last time we’d see and speak to her.

Jiggly said, “For me, it’s always been about representation. Even when I first got on the show, if people were paying attention at my station, I had the Filipino flag on my station because I wanted people to know that being Asian is more than being Chinese or Japanese and Korean. Growing up here in the US, a lot of my youth was trying to hide my Filipino culture because I didn’t feel like it was accepted. Yung baon ko na nasa Tupperware, tinatago ko yung adobo pero gusto ko pa rin… things like that. I felt guilty about it when I got older and that’s why I feel like I try so much now to push for Filipino representation, even if it’s not with me. For me, there’s more than enough space for every queen. Drag is such a big umbrella of so many different styles of the art form so there is really room for everyone… if hindi ka madamot.”