Background and career
Chantaize Darius Jeremy Pierce, better known by the stage name Shangela Laquifa Wadley or simply as Shangela (born November 22, 1981), is an American drag queen, reality television personality, TV producer, and actor best known for competing on RuPaul's Drag Race. Shangela was the first contestant eliminated in season two, and returned as a surprise contestant in the series' third season, placing sixth. He returned once again for the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars where he finished in joint-third/fourth place alongside winner of the first season, BeBe Zahara Benet. Shangela has also made several television appearances and regularly performs across the United States and Canada. After Drag Race, Shangela appeared in numerous television series, including Community (2011), 2 Broke Girls (2012), Glee (2012), Bones (2014), The X-Files (2016), and Broad City (2019). He also appeared in the comedy film Hurricane Bianca (2016), its sequel Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate (2018), and the musical drama film A Star is Born (2018). In 2019, representing A Star Is Born at the 91st Academy Awards, he became the first drag queen to walk the Oscars red carpet in drag. Between 2020 and 2024, Shangela co-hosted the HBO reality series We're Here, alongside fellow Drag Race contestants Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka O'Hara. The series received acclaim from critics.
Chantaize Darius Jeremy Pierce was born on November 22, 1981, in Lamar County, Texas, and grew up in nearby Paris, Texas. He is the only child of Debra Sue Pierce (born 1959). His mother worked for the United States Army and traveled frequently for her job. Pierce is biracial and of half-Saudi descent. His parents separated when he was very young, after which his father returned to Saudi Arabia. Pierce was subsequently raised by his mother and her large Southern Baptist family. His grandfather worked as a cowboy on a cattle ranch and became the father figure in his life following his parents' separation. His grandfather died in 2000. While attending high school, Pierce was a cheerleader and first experimented with drag by dressing in drag for creative English class projects. He later attended Southern Methodist University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Pierce developed the drag persona Shangela in January 2009. Pierce later recalled that he adopted the name "Shangela" after a friend spoke with a woman named Shangela while making a telemarketing call. Shangela first performed publicly after Pierce choreographed a three-person drag performance to "Single Ladies" for a sober charity event in Los Angeles. When one of the performers withdrew shortly before the event, the remaining performers persuaded Pierce to take the vacant role. The performance impressed the club's promoter, who invited Shangela to return the following week. Pierce later described the booking as the beginning of his drag career. Shangela's drag mother is fellow drag performer Alyssa Edwards. In 2010, Shangela won the inaugural California Entertainer of the Year pageant, with Chad Michaels named first alternate.
After five months of performing in Los Angeles, Shangela was selected to join the cast for season two of RuPaul's Drag Race, but was eliminated in the first episode. She later reauditioned and was invited back for season three, where she made it to the top five (although she placed sixth overall due to the return of Carmen Carrera one episode later). She also made cameo appearances in the show's fourth-season premiere and the "Snatch Game" episode of All Stars season two. Shangela returned to compete on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, making her the first queen to compete on three separate seasons of the show. She made it to the season's finale and was considered a frontrunner for the crown, but was controversially eliminated after only receiving one vote from Thorgy Thor among the jury of previously eliminated queens. She subsequently tied third/fourth place with season-one winner Bebe Zahara Benet. Shangela competed in the television special RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular. In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed Shangela second on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former RuPaul's Drag Race contestants.
Since 2020, Shangela has co-hosted We're Here on HBO alongside fellow Drag Race contestants Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka O'Hara. In the series, the trio of drag queens travel across the United States to recruit small-town residents to participate in one-night-only drag shows. After premiering on April 23, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 11, 2021. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a third season. The series has received acclaim from critics. The series was renewed for a fourth season, but with a cast of new queens (Priyanka, Jaida Essence Hall, and Sasha Velour) replacing Eureka, Bob, and Shangela.
In September 2022, Pierce was announced as a contestant on the thirty-first season of Dancing with the Stars, where he was partnered with professional dancer Gleb Savchenko. The pair advanced to the finale, receiving three perfect scores from the judges and winning a dance relay challenge before finishing in fourth place.
