Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Paramount+
(Warning: Spoilers ahead for the new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.)
There’s no shortage of things to adore about Jessica Wild. The RuPaul’s Drag Race alum has come a long way from her self-proclaimed “Forever 21 drag” on Season 2, returning for All Stars 8 bigger, brighter, and bolder—but with her infallible charisma and hilariously ditzy persona thankfully intact. Jessica attributed her success to her language barrier; the Puerto Rican queen had to be funny, without making herself and her culture into the punchline. “I found out that in English, or in Spanish, Jessica Wild is a superstar, baby!” she told producers in the All Stars 8 premiere confessional.
Jessica may have finished in sixth place back in Season 2, but to say she was a memorable contestant would be a gross understatement. Before Drag Race blew up into the cultural monolith that it is now, Jessica was the subject of low-quality, pixelated gifs that would float around Twitter and Tumblr. I know at least two people who got into the show after they saw a clip of Jessica—in a challenge where she had to promote a fake autobiography while marketing an Absolut cocktail—go off-book and fawn over her beverage: “I loooove that drink.”