The opening notes of RuPaul’s “To the Moon” lingered through BSK Manila in Mandaluyong City as Adonis Prodhouse wrapped up its first D’ Intervention viewing party for “Drag Race Philippines” season 4.
As viewers began making their way out through the halls, some of the queens headed straight to the club’s media room—a smaller, more intimate space away from the buzz of the main viewing area.
'Drag Race Philippines' season 4 queens during D' Intervention viewing party. From left to right: Dixxxy Decoy, Merckz, Katana, Bhorj Gum, Ghulli Ghush, Maureen Biology, Andy Crocker, Valeria, and Taylor Sheesh.
Under the lights, a backdrop had been set up as the queens slowly fell in line, waiting for their turn to face members of the media for their first interviews as the newest faces of the franchise.
While waiting, they caught up with one another and shared the kind of excitement that comes from finally being able to talk about something they had kept to themselves for months.
Now that Season 4 is finally out in the world, the queens had a message for viewers: it is a television show, so soak it in.
For Merckz and Dixxxy Decoy, that means enjoying the season and having fun with it—just as they did while keeping the show to themselves during filming.
That sentiment also applies to the drama that inevitably comes with reality television.
"It's been months since we filmed. Honestly, itong mga viewing parties...it's just us looking back sa mga ginawa namin,” Merckz said. “Oo, maaapektuhan 'yong emotion ninyo pero don't let that get into you.”
For Valeria, it is all about keeping the good vibes and laughter going. Meanwhile, Andy Crocker acknowledged that the queens can get feisty with one another, but framed those moments as part of the drama that makes reality television entertaining.
Andy added that viewers can certainly watch something that has already happened and join the conversation around it. But participating in that conversation, she emphasized, does not mean attacking the people involved.
Bhorj Gum echoed the sentiment, reminding viewers that what audiences see on the show is not necessarily the whole story.
"I hope that the fans will not just say whatever they see on television because sometimes, it's not the whole truth," Bhorj shared.
Behind every episode edited for television are performers who lived through the experience in real time. What audiences see is ultimately a version of that experience shaped for the screen.
Maureen Biology likewise acknowledged that viewers will naturally have varying opinions about the queens and their performances. But criticism, she stressed, should not become personal attacks against the performers who are competing for the crown while entertaining an audience.
"Huwag nating pepersonalin [iyong show]...this is a reality TV show...so baklaan, siyempre maraming kagatan, irayan...get used to it," Maureen added.
The tension is familiar within the wider “Drag Race” fandom, where disagreements over queens and their performances can sometimes spill beyond the show itself. Over the years, queens across the franchise have also spoken publicly about harassment and threats from viewers.
These incidents have also prompted recurring reminders from fans and communities that disagreement with a reality-show contestant is different from directing abuse at them.
For Taylor Sheesh, the message was simpler: “Kung hindi sila nagbabayad ng bills mo, wala kaming pake.”
But the queens’ message goes over asking viewers to manage their reactions. For Ghulli Ghush, watching the show is also an opportunity to appreciate drag in all its forms.
Drag can be glamorous, but it can also be campy, alternative, political, humorous, theatrical, grotesque, fantastical, or deliberately unconventional. It can live in the shade and the punchline just as much as it can in the rhinestones and the runway.
That distinction matters because television inevitably creates its own framework for drag—and viewers can sometimes end up measuring artists against that framework.
That is where Katana’s call to “end the comparisons” comes in. Rather than measuring one queen against another, or one season against the next, she hopes viewers will allow each performer and each season to exist on its own terms.
“Let us savor our season. Sobrang iba ng season namin kasi wala naman kami sa ibang season, eh, so let's please stop that," Katana added.
The tendency to compare is hardly new, particularly in a fandom that follows queens beyond the Philippine franchise and into international competitions.
Filipino queens who move into global “Drag Race” franchises are often measured against one another, with their placements and performances becoming part of a larger conversation about what constitutes the “best” representation of Philippine drag.
Viewers, of course, are entitled to their opinions. The queens know that, and they expect the reactions and even disagreements that come with putting their personalities on television.
But beneath the edits and competition are artists doing what drag has always allowed them to do: transform, perform, and become something bigger than themselves.
After months of waiting, they would rather have audiences laugh, argue, marvel, critique, and celebrate the season with them—without forgetting the art form and the people behind the television.
As RuPaul put it: “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”