RuPaul’s Drag Race: Everything To Know About Denali

Denali is ready to skate through the competition on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13. It’s been a while since the show cast an ice skating diva. In fact, the last time was Milk on Drag Race season 6. When she came back for All-Stars 3, Milk even joked that it was impossible for her to showcase her biggest talent – ice skating – during the talent show maxi challenge. Given, you know, the lack of an ice arena in the studio. But there’s a long history of queer professional skaters going on reality TV and doing very well for themselves, such as Adam Rippon and Johnny Weir, both of whom competed on Dancing With The Stars.

In more ways than one, the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 seems to bring the show “back to basics,” but it also moves the franchise forward with a history-making batch of drag artists. For one, this season will feature legends like Atlanta’s Tamisha Iman and New York City’s Tina Burner. But the cast also features younger queens who try to push boundaries, like Symone and Utica Queen. Furthermore, Drag Race has finally cast a trans man to compete on the show, Gottmik, and the fans are very excited to get to know him more. Another contestant that has been standing out from the pack is Denali.

Denali (sans Fox) finally skated her way to the RuPaul’s Drag Race mainstage. In recent years, certain videos of Denali ice skating in full drag went viral, and you can see one of them below. This queen is representing Chicago, Illinois on the show, but she grew up in the state of Alaska. Moreover, she’s made it clear over the years that she’s very proud of her Mexican heritage. On her Meet The Queens video, Denali stated that her name means “the great one” in its native language. She also told fans that she has many years of experience as a performer, which includes her history with figure skating. As if her resume wasn’t already impressive enough, Denali said that she’s a third-degree black belt in martial arts. She’s not there to fight, but she could, if you try her. Check out some of Denali’s Instagram posts below.

On the other hand, Denali isn’t hiding from anyone that she’s scared of playing the Snatch Game on Drag Race. She is a formidable athlete with a black belt and a talent for skating, but she’s still just getting started with the performing arts. Nonetheless, there’s no doubt that this is a queen who will apply herself to everything that she does and who will probably excel in most of the challenges if she can keep her head in the game.

The fans are looking forward to watching Denali on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13. Her charisma and talent will surely shine through the screen.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 premieres Friday, January 1, 2021 at 8pm EST on VH1.

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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