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'Mismatches, typecast': Saki Yew, Zahirah Zapanta share struggles of Asian queens in UK

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Josiah Eleazar Antonio

ABS-CBN News

<div style="text-align:left"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1727422751005Mismatches-DRUG RACE 09272024.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Zahirah Zapanta and Saki Yew in &#x27;Drag Race UK&#x27; season 6. Screenshots from World of Wonder&#x27;s YouTube channel."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Zahirah Zapanta and Saki Yew in &#x27;Drag Race UK&#x27; season 6. Screenshots from World of Wonder&#x27;s YouTube channel.</span></span></span></div><div><span>From mismatches to being typecast, Filipina drag queens Saki Yew and Zahirah Zapanta shared the struggles of Asian queens during the premiere of &quot;RuPaul&#x27;s Drag Race&quot; UK season 6.</span></div><div><span>Saki and Zahirah are the first queens of Filipino descent in the UK franchise of the hit reality show &quot;RuPaul&#x27;s Drag Race.&quot;</span></div><div><span><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/2024/9/3/filipina-drag-queens-saki-yew-zahirah-zapanta-join-drag-race-uk-season-6-2139">Filipina drag queens Saki Yew, Zahirah Zapanta join &#x27;Drag Race UK&#x27; season 6</a></span><span></span></div><div><span>In the first episode aired Friday, Saki shared how excited she is to be with a fellow Filipina queen.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;It&#x27;s so good. It&#x27;s like, it&#x27;s so nice to have someone of the same heritage here,&quot; Saki said.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>Sharing their experience, Zahirah said that it gets frustrating when people mistake her as Saki in Manchester.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;There&#x27;s a few frustrations there ... I kinda feel as a person of color, you have to work harder than the other queen. Sometimes, I&#x27;ll head on to the stage and in the audience someone will shout, Saki,&quot; Zahirah said. </span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>Saki echoed the same sentiment noting how Asian queens are boxed for only being beautiful.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;As an Asian queen, you always get compared to another Asian queen because they think, you look similar.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;Being an Asian queen, you get boxed into being just this pretty queen that isn&#x27;t really that funny and that&#x27;s pretty much it but I wanna prove to people, we can do everything that every other queen does.&quot;</span><span></span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>Zahirah stressed how Asian queens are different and they can deliver distinct performances on the stage.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;It does get to me at the back of my mind, people will call me Jujubee out in the street ... It makes me feel really uncomfortable but as a professional I have to just carry on the show,&quot; the drag queen said. </span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;Saki could not be more different to me and we look nothing alike. So for people and queens to keep mistaking us from each other, it upsets me so much,&quot; she added.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>To their excitement, Saki and Zahirah are excited to show their brand in the TV series.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>&quot;I&#x27;m sick and tired of that and that being me and you here on this show together, we&#x27;ll solidify ourselves as Saki, as Zahirah. I&#x27;m excited to see it. I&#x27;m so proud that you&#x27;re here with me,&quot; Zahirah said. </span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>Meanwhile, Zahirah flaunted her Filipina roots during the hometown runway with a white Filipiniana dress.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>Both Saki and Zahirah were safe in the episode and move on to the next episode.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>In the country, Precious Paula Nicole and Captivating Katkat are the titleholders of &quot;Drag Race Philippines,&quot; winning in 2022 and 2023, respectively.</span><span><br/></span></div><div><span>The Emmy Award-winning original series has featured the talents of Filipino drag queens in the US and several overseas in editions through the years.</span></div>

<p>From mismatches to being typecast, Filipina drag queens Saki Yew and Zahirah Zapanta shared the struggles of Asian queens during the premiere of "RuPaul's Drag Race" UK season 6.</p>

From mismatches to being typecast, Filipina drag queens Saki Yew and Zahirah Zapanta shared the struggles of Asian queens during the premiere of "RuPaul's Drag Race" UK season 6.