RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World has just eliminated its second queen, and while Spanish drag queen Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha, who bills herself as the 'Spanish Hannah Montana' was disappointed by her early exit, she can still hold her head high for showcasing her authentic self.
For the latest series of the Drag Olympics, Arantxa strutted into the werkroom as a proud trans woman, a complete change from her debut appearance on the first series of Drag Race Espana when she was uncertain about who she even was.
Speaking to HELLO! about her emotions upon re-entering the Drag Race sphere, the Spanish performer explained: "I felt every single emotion that you could ever feel as a human being when I entered the werkroom, because the first time that I was on Drag Race, I didn't feel good about myself and I didn't know why.
"Then when I got out of Drag Race, I realised that I had to start transitioning to be who I really am. Being back, even though it's not the same set, it's not the same judges, it is the same thing, so it brought up a lot of things that I felt the first time that I were there, but at the same time I was like, 'Oh, I remember the last time that I was here, I felt like [expletive], I looked in the mirror and I wanted to puke and now I feel very happy with where I am'."
© Guy LevyThe drag performer also revealed she was in two minds as to whether to appear on UK vs the World, with filming also coinciding with Drag Race Espana: All Stars. Explaining why she chose the UK show, Arantxa said: "There was an angel and a demon fighting my head when it came to take a decision about this.
"I've grown a lot and I think the judges who saw my birth as a star deserve to see that growth, but at the same time, I kept thinking, 'Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? And where the fish is RuPaul."
Arantxa's exit following the 'Happy Ending Ball' was doubly emotional for the star as she was in the bottom two against her close friend, Choriza May, with the pair's fairytale-inspired looks failing to impress the judges.
Despite tears flowing from both queens, they shared an incredibly sweet moment while La Grande Dame and Keta Minaj lip-synched for the win, with the duo dancing energetically alongside one another in the back. Lifting the lid on the moment, Arantxa shared: "In the moment that I realised that it was Choriza and me in the bottom, it was like, 'Okay, I'm gonna go to bed feeling like [expletive], because either I stay or I go' and no matter what I'm not gonna see her again."
© Guy LevyShe added: "Right before the lip sync started, Choriza and I looked at each other and we were like, 'You know what, this is going to be the last time that we're going to be together here, so let's take this three-minute song and celebrate our friendship'. We didn't care about the cameras, we didn't even care about what they other queens were doing, we wanted to celebrate us."
The queen admitted that she wasn't surprised that La Grande Dame opted to send her home, joking: "You know the history between Spain and France, so I knew she would give me the boot." However, Arantxa added that she believed it was "50/50" as to who the French queen would send home.
Due to Arantxa's early exit, the performer was robbed of her planned "double ru-demption" when it comes to the show's iconic Snatch Game challenge, which sent her home on her original series. Although she wouldn't give too much away, Arantxa teased: "I did awful on my original Snatch Game, according to the judges, and I did awful on the runway, according to me.
"The Snatch Game that I was doing was a character that we paid homage to her on the runway of Drag Race Espana. It was a total ru-demption for me as she's an icon, she's a trans legend who has become everything to the trans community in Spain and I was very excited to portray her in front of RuPaul."
© Guy LevyHer exit also means that Arantxa won't be able to show the full talents of the Spanish drag community, and she revealed that viewers would now be missing out on a potential iconic acting performance.
"In Spain, we do have one of the best comedic actors and actresses of the world," she declared. "I would love to have done do an acting challenge to show that drag in Spain is amazing, because we can act our pants off."
Thankfully this is unlikely to be the last time we see Arantxa, as she revealed plenty of upcoming projects in the works, including new music, a book, and a series with her best squirrel friend, Choriza May.
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And as to whether she'd ever compete in the Drag Race franchise again, she teased: "If Mama Ru or Supremme De Luxe called me, I'm never gonna say no, what can I say, this girl has an open agenda and open legs."
