Drag Den

Drag Den
Genre	Drag pageantry Reality competition
Created by	Rod Singh
Written by	Rod Singh Andy Tejada
Directed by	Rod Singh
Presented by	Manila Luzon
Judges	Manila Luzon Nicole Cordoves Sassa Gurl
Opening theme	"Drag Den" (theme)
Country of origin	Philippines
Original languages	Filipino (Tagalog) English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producers	Antoinette Jadaone Dan Villegas Manila Luzon
Producers	Antoinette Jadaone Rod Singh Dan Villegas
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	45–65 minutes
Production companies	Cornerstone Studios Project 8 Projects
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	8 December 2022 – present

Drag Den is a Philippine drag pageantry reality competition television series that premiered on 8 December 2022, through Amazon Prime Video. Manila Luzon acts as the host, head judge, and executive producer of the series. Cornerstone Studios and Project 8 Projects produce the series; with Rod Singh as the series creator, director, and producer.

The first season's contestants and judges were revealed on 17 November 2022. The eight drag queens competed for the title as the "Filipino's First Drag Supreme". The first season premiered on 8 December 2022, and it concluded on 19 January 2023. Naia won the first season, with Shewarma and Maria Cristina as the runners-up.

Production

Concept

The series takes inspiration from many beauty pageants with their challenges being based on Philippine culture. They have also shown many political aspects of comedy challenges or shared "anecdote[s] about Philippine society."

Format

In season one, contestants are instructed to participate in two challenges in the series; the judges will critique both challenges and choose their winner for the episode. The episode's winner and their chosen opponent will enter the Dragdagulan involving a wrecking ball. The winner of the battle will gain an advantage for the next episode and the opponent won't be eliminated and will continue in the competition.

Judges

The competition series is hosted and judged primarily by drag queen, Manila Luzon, also known as the "Drag Lord". Philippine model Nicole Cordoves and comedienne Sassa Gurl, made appearances as the competition's prominent judges. The three judges are known as the "Drag Cartel" in the series. In every episode, a guest judge appears for the series, known as the "Drag Enforcer". "Drag Agents" were introduced in the second season, where season one contestants come back as judges.

Judges on Drag Den

Judge	Season
	1	2
Manila Luzon	Main
Nicole Cordoves	Main
Sassa Gurl	Main

Contestants

Currently, there has been a total of eighteen contestants that competed in the Philippine reality series so far, with Naia being crowned "Filipino's First Drag Supreme". In the first season, the series welcomed its first openly trans woman contestant, Barbie-Q. In season two, the series also welcomed its first cisgender female contestant, Marlyn.

Series overview

Season 1 (2022–2023)

Drag is still kind of underground here, so I'm excited to bring the Filipino audience and let them see underground and see the scene that's happening and to fall in love with these queens and to be inspired by their creativity, to be in awe of their beauty and their transformations, and so it's going to be like a pageant.

— Manila Luzon, introducing Drag Den to Mega Entertainment.

In July 2021, RuPaul's Drag Race alumna Manila Luzon exclusively told Entertainment Weekly about an upcoming project she is up to host and judge. On 16 August 2021, Luzon partnered with TikTok and announced a casting call for the series. The deadline for the casting call ended on 31 August 2021.

On 17 November 2022, eight contestants were shown in the new trailer heading down the runway, revealing the judges' panel, and its official premiere date.

The first season premiered on 8 December 2022, through Amazon Prime Video. The contestants competed to become "Filipino's First Drag Supreme" and win ₱1,000,000. The season ran for eight episodes and concluded on 26 January 2023. Shewarma and Maria Cristina are the runners-up, and Naia was crowned the first season's winner.

Season 2 (2024)

Throughout social media, Amazon Prime Video joined the trend involving promotional material from the film, Barbie (2023), and posted an image of a Manila Luzon doll-like figure. On 14 April 2023, Manila Luzon and Rod Singh announced the renewal of the reality competition series and a casting call for season two on social media. The casting call was open until 30 April 2023.

Throughout the month of December, ten contestants were shown in a new trailer with the judges' panel coming back, and its official premiere date.

Reception

Critical response

Ysmael Suarez from CNN Philippines mentions the series mainly focuses on the contestants' "growth before and during the competition" and that "no queen was put in a bad light, each having their clear strengths and defined perspective to Filipino drag." Rafael Bautista from Nylon Manila describes the series "made an emphasis to highlight how diverse the Philippine drag scene is" and giving "giving viewers even more slices of local drag that go beyond location and gender."

Accolades

The series was nominated for "Best Reality Show Entertainment" from the Asian Academy Creative Awards and "Best Reality Show Entertainment" by the Asian Television Awards. Manila Luzon won both entertainment hosting categories from the Asian Academy Creative Awards and the Asian Television Awards.

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award	Year	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Asian Academy Creative Awards	2023	Best Entertainment Host	Manila Luzon	Won
		Best Non Scripted Entertainment	Drag Den	Nominated
Asian Television Awards	2023	Best Entertainment Presenter or Host	Manila Luzon	Won
		Best Reality Show Entertainment	Drag Den	Nominated

Discography

List of singles

Title	Season
"May Kapa"	1
"Sustah"	2

See also

• LGBT culture in the Philippines
• List of Amazon Prime Video original programming
• List of reality television programs with LGBT cast members