Cristian Peralta made history as the first Mexican-born crowned queen in RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise and the inaugural winner of Drag Race México. During her incredible run on the first season also pushed boundaries, proudly representing the pansexual community, and giving us a show-stopping final lip-sync. In an interview with Remezcla, Peralta talked about what the victory means for her, showing another side to the LGBTQ+ community, and what’s next.
“I feel very good,” she tells Remezcla. “I’m very happy! I believe it’s many years of effort and dedication reaching a culmination. It’s incredible that now my work is not only known in Mexico, but on an international level as well.”
Peralta hails from the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco. Prior to competing on Drag Race México, she had 15 years of experience under her belt as an impersonator, comedian, dancer, makeup artist, and drag queen. In addition to dominating with five Maxi Challenge wins, Peralta’s time on the show was also groundbreaking for the representation of the pansexual community. She often talked about how her wife and daughter were a driving force for her to win. Peralta showed that there’s not one way for a queer family or relationship to present.
“I believe that representing this minority inside the LGBTQ+ collective was very important because I found people around the world that looked for me to tell me thank you,” she says. “This is a minority that sometimes our collective doesn’t understand. To show this nuclear family means a lot and that there’s also values in drag.”
Peralta would especially get emotional talking about her daughter on the show. She supports her family 100 percent through her work in drag, so her daughter has a normalized view of the artform.
“My daughter is about to turn 4-years-old,” she says. “Maybe she still doesn’t have that wickedness from larger society that can get into your head and say that dressing like a woman or that people who are different are bad. As a family, we uphold respect as a value. She sees it as something that is natural. For her, to see dad dad putting on makeup, doesn’t imply that it’s bad. On the contrary, she knows that when papá is putting on makeup, it’s time to go to work.”
Peralta clinched the win with a spectacular final lip-sync for the crown. While performing to Amanda Miguel’s “Él Me Mintió,” she pulled a surprising wig reveal and brought out a pair of scissors to chop up her hair. The emotional performance had co-host Lolita Banana in tears as she watched from the judges panel.
“I created my own story around ‘Él Me Mintió,’ which was about a woman in the eighties who was spiteful and sunken in depression,” she says. “I wanted to make it more modern about a woman, who was cheated on and lied to, but instead you reinvent yourself, you make yourself beautiful, you close that chapter, and keep going. My castmates had no idea that I had another wig on or that I brought scissors or that lipstick. Those are the surprises, or reveals, we love to see in drag.”
With the title of “Mexico’s Next Drag Superstar,” Peralta is ready to take on the world and use her platform for good.
“I see myself hosting a show because why not?” she says. “I believe I have the experience and ability, and above all, I carry a positive message about drag. There’s a lot of people that don’t know what a drag queen is, even more so in our Latino community. I’m showing that anyone can do drag, create that fantasy, and create their own drag persona because to do drag gives you freedom, and freedom gives you happiness.”
Drag Race México is available on WOW Presents Plus.
