BBC News
Getty ImagesBianca Castro-Arabejo, a pull star who performed as Jiggly Caliente, passed away at the age of 44, her home has reported.
After suffering a” significant infection,” the performer, who became famous on RuPaul’s Drag Race’s fourth season, had her foot amputated on Thursday.
Caliente had previously served as a prosecutor on the spin-off of the show in the Philippines and had previously appeared in the popular US television program Pose.
It is with deep pain that we announce the passing of Bianca Castro-Arabejo, who is well-known and cherished by many as Jiggly Caliente, in a statement posted on Instagram.
She was reportedly surrounded by her loving family and close friends when she passed away early on Sunday night.
Her “infectious power, harsh humour, and unwavering authenticity” were paid tribute to Caliente’s family, who also left a tradition of “love, courage, and gentle” in her reputation.
Through her engagement, artistic talent, and genuine connection with fans all over the world, they said,” She touched countless life.”
The joy she shared and the space she helped build for so many will stay long, even though her bodily presence is gone.
Drag queens online have paid tribute to the Filipino-American actor.
Caliente was described as a “kind, thinking soul” by Laganja Estranja, who made her debut on the fifth year of the US real TV program.
Baga Chipz, a RuPaul’s Drag Race UK sun, described Caliente as “one of the sweetest, sweetest beings I’ve always met.”
We may love you forever and usually Jiggly, said Cheryl The Queen, who even competed in the UK version of the present.
Tia Kofi, who won Drag Race UK versus the World, described Caliente as” one I came to for guidance, I looked up to, who gave me help when it was most needed, and, I may exist, was always there for a great gossip”!
Michelle Visage, the judge of Drag Race, said in her gift,” You could never stop laughing. Our conversations were unique.
You were and continue to be thus loved. We want you to jump high because this world has lost an god,” she continued.
Getty ImagesWhen Caliente was a young child, she was born in the Philippines in 1980, and she and her home moved to the Queens neighborhood of New York City.
When she first appeared on the show in 2012, she quickly became a lover favorite on RuPaul’s Drag Race for her sense of humor and wonderful connections with other kings.
Another contestant Lashauwn Beyond coined the phrase” this is not RuPaul’s Best Friend Race,” which has been repeatedly used in later line, in a particularly remarkable instance.
Caliente then began acting, appearing in episodes of the shows Broad City and Search Party.
In the TV show Pose, which explored LGBT basketball culture in New York in the 1980s and 1990s, she portrayed Veronica.
Caliente, who formally declared her transgender identity in 2016, after made a comeback to the Drag Race world, appearing in the sixth series of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Actors in 2021 and judging the Drag Race Philippines spin-off line.
The move actor’s family had claimed on Thursday that she had experienced a” critical health loss” that caused the loss of “most of her proper leg” before her death.