Alexis Mateo Pacheco (born July 24, 1979), best known as Alexis Mateo,[1] is a Puerto Rican drag queen, performer, reality television personality, fashion designer, and the winner of All American Goddess 2016, Miss Gay Days 2016 and National Showgirl 2017. She became internationally known as a contestant on season three of RuPaul's Drag Race, seasons one and five of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and season two of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.[2] Alexis Mateo is also drag mother of viral sensation and "RuGirl" Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.[3]

Alexis Mateo
Mateo in 2012
Born
Alexis Mateo Pacheco

(1979-07-24) July 24, 1979 (age 45)
EducationInteramerican University of Puerto Rico (BA)
OccupationDrag queen
Years active2006–present
Known forRuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 1)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 5)
Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World (season 2)
Websitewww.missalexismateo.com

Early life

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Born in 1979, Alexis Mateo began her drag career in Puerto Rico's gay nightclub circuit before relocating in 2001 to Orlando, Florida, where she worked as a dancer and performer at Disney World.[4] In addition to his drag career, which began in 2006,[5] he is a fashion designer and won the 2001 Inter Fashion Award for Best Fashion Designer.[6][7]

Career

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While residing in Central Florida, he won many gay pageants including Miss Florida US of A, Miss Florida Latina, Miss Orlando, Miss Central Florida, Miss Lakeland, Miss Waterside, Miss Suncoast, Miss Suncoast America, Miss ASAP, Miss Lakeland America, Miss Orlando Latina, Miss Florida International, and Sunshine State All American Goddess.[6][8]

Mateo has been active in AIDS awareness and activism. After being featured in a Gilead Sciences ad titled "Red Ribbon Runway" with fellow Drag Race co-stars Manila Luzon, Delta Work, Shangela Laquifa Wadley, and Carmen Carrera,[9] the dress he was featured wearing was auctioned off by Logo in commemoration of World AIDS Day. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the National Association of People with AIDS.[10] In 2012, along with other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, Mateo appeared in the music video "Queen" by band Xelle (which featured former drag race contestant Mimi Imfurst as a member).[11] She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA performance.[12]

RuPaul's Drag Race

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Mateo joined as a cast member on the third season of Logo's reality series, RuPaul's Drag Race, which premiered on the network on January 29, 2011. Mateo won three of the main challenges (Episodes 2, 3, and 8) before making it to the top three, where he was eliminated in the season finale which aired on April 25, 2011.[13]

 
Alexis performing "Come & Get It" by Selena Gomez in June 2013.

Mateo served as a guest professor on the third episode of the third season of Drag Race spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U.[14] On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Mateo was one of twelve past Drag Race contestants selected to join the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars that premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012.[15] Teamed with contestant Yara Sofia to form Team Yarlexis, the duo was eliminated in the fourth episode of the series which aired on November 12, 2012.

Mateo made a guest appearance in the premiere episode of AJ and the Queen in 2020.[16]

On May 8, 2020, Mateo was announced as one of the ten queens competing on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[2] Mateo was eliminated in episode 6, ultimately placing 5th. Her elimination came largely because of accusations from India Ferrah that Mateo had campaigned against eventual winner Shea Couleé. Mateo was vindicated in the series finale when Ferrah's claims were shown to be lies, and the contestants that voted Mateo out apologized.[17]

In March, Alexis Mateo, alongside the rest of the RuPaul's Drag Race Live! cast, performed with Katy Perry during her Play concert residency at Resorts World Las Vegas.[18]

Pageant Titles

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Alexis Mateo at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2022

Mateo has competed in many pageants and holds many titles. Including:

  • Miss Lakeland 2004, winner[19]
  • Miss Gay Florida USofA 2006, winner[19]
  • Miss Gay Florida America 2007, 1st alternate[19]
  • Miss Gay Florida America 2008, 1st alternate[19]
  • Miss Orlando Latina 2009[19]
  • Miss Gay Florida International 2010, winner[19]
  • Miss Parliament House 2012, 1st alternate[19]
  • Miss Heart of Florida 2013, 1st alternate[19]
  • Miss Gay Georgia USofA 2013, 1st alternate[19]
  • Miss Tampa Bay International 2013, winner[19]
  • Sunshine State All American Goddess 2014, winner[19]
  • Miss Gay Southern States USofA 2014, winner[19]
  • Miss North Florida FI 2015, winner[19]
  • Miss Florida FI 2015, 1st alternate[19]
  • Miss Gay USofA 2015, 3rd alternate[19]
  • Miss Tampa Pride 2016, winner[19]
  • Miss Gay Days 2016, winner[19]
  • Kentucky All American Goddess 2016, winner[19]
  • All American Goddess 2016, winner[19]
  • National Showgirl 2017, winner[19]

Mateo is also a former Miss Florida Latina, Miss Orlando, Miss Central Florida, Miss Waterside, Miss Suncoast, Miss Suncoast America, Miss Lakeland America and Miss ASAP.[19]

Personal life

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Alexis Mateo at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2018

Mateo resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he performs at gay venues and events both locally and throughout the United States. In April 2011, Mateo along with fellow contestant Yara Sofia launched a boycott of a Tampa beauty supply shop after the two claimed they had been told to leave the store because of their sexual orientation.[20] His drag daughter is season 10 and season 11 Drag Race contestant Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.[21] On March 1, 2018, his Instagram account was hacked and deleted, forcing him to make a new one.[22]

Discography

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Singles

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Title Year Album
"Big Girl"[23]
(Joelapussy featuring Alyssa Edwards and Alexis Mateo)
2013 non-album single

As Featured Artist

Title Year Album
"I'm in Love"[24]
(with the Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, Season 5)
2020 Non-album single

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2011 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Contestant; 3rd Place (Season 3) [13]
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Contestant
2012 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Contestant - 5th/6th Place (Season 1) [15]
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked Contestant (Season 1)
2013 RuPaul's Drag U Drag Professor [14]
2020 AJ and the Queen Guest appearance [16]
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Contestant - 5th Place (Season 5) [2]
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked Contestant (Season 2)
2021 Drag Race España Guest appearance (Season 1)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Lip-Sync Assassin (Season 6; Episode 7)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked Season 3
2022 Drag Race España Guest judge (Season 2) [25]
2023 Drag Me to Dinner Hulu original reality series [26]
2024 Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World Contestant (Season 2) (Runner-up) [27]

Web series

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Year Title Role Notes Ref
2019 Hey Qween! Herself Guest [28]
2019 Drag Queen Video Dates Herself Guest [29]
2020 Besties For Cash Herself Guest [30]
2020 Whatcha Packin Herself Guest [31]
2020 Dragueando Herself Host [32]
2021–present Fashion Photo RuView Herself Guest [33]
2022 Portrait of a Queen Herself Episode: "Jaida Essence Hall" [34]
2023 Give It To Me Straight Herself Guest [35]
2023 Binge Queens: Drag Race Mexico Herself Host [36]
2023 LGBTQ Herstory Month: Honoring Latinx Heroes Herself Web special [37]
2024 RuPaul's Drag Race Live Untucked Herself WOWPresents Plus original [38]

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
2011 Champion RuPaul
2012 Responsitrannity RuPaul
2012 Queen Xelle
2020 Bitch Please Derrick Barry, Nebraska Thunderfuck, & Velo

References

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  1. ^ Hernandez, Ellie D. (2014). The Un/Making of Latina/o Citizenship: Culture, Politics, and Aesthetics. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137431080.
  2. ^ a b c Adam B. Vary (May 8, 2020). "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars' Moves Back to VH1 From Showtime, Reveals Cast". Variety. Archived from the original on May 8, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  3. ^ Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
  4. ^ La draga Alexis Mateo tilda de ignorantes a los homofóbicos Archived October 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine from Primera Hora, December 29, 2010.
  5. ^ Fitzgerald, Christine (December 28, 2018). "Alexis Mateo — The Socialite Life Interview". Socialitelife.com. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "North Pinella Pride: Alexis Mateo" Archived August 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, northpinellaspride.org, October 2011; accessed July 22, 2015.
  7. ^ Profile Archived February 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, AlexisMateo.com; accessed July 22, 2015.
  8. ^ "St. Petersburg queen Alexis Mateo talks about her Drag Race experience" Archived February 9, 2013, at archive.today, watermarkonline.com, January 19, 2011.
  9. ^ Red Ribbon Runway. July 26, 2011.
  10. ^ Spargo, Chris (December 1, 2011). "NOW: Red Ribbon Runway Auction". NewNowNext. Logo. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  11. ^ Spargo, Chris (October 25, 2012). "XELLE's 'Queen' Music Video Features Every 'Drag Race' Queen: Watch October 25, 2012 by Chris Spargo". New Now Next. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  12. ^ Lamour, Joseph. "Meet All 30 Of Miley's Day-Glo Dancers From Her Insane VMA Performance". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  13. ^ a b "RuPaul's Drag Race: Alexis Mateo", HuffingtonPost.com; May 6, 2011.
  14. ^ a b "‘RuPaul's Drag U’ Preview: Alexis Mateo & Sex With Food", newnownext.com; July 2, 2012
  15. ^ a b RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars cast includes Jujubee, Latrice Royale, Manila Luzon from chicago.gopride.com; August 6, 2012Archived July 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ a b Nolfi, Joey (December 3, 2019). "RuPaul brings 22 Drag Race queens to costar on AJ and the Queen". EW.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  17. ^ "We now know who was lying in the Alexis Mateo/India Ferrah All Stars 5 drama". Metro. July 25, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  18. ^ Katsilometes, John (March 17, 2022). "Katy Perry returns to the Strip, RuPaul cast rushes the stage". Last Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Alexis Mateo". Our Community Roots. July 15, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  20. ^ "This just in: RDR contestants thrown out of Discount Beauty Supply Store for being gay!" Archived December 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, worldofwonder.net, April 20, 2011.
  21. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race season 10: Everything you need to know... henny". Gay Times. February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  22. ^ "Alexis Mateo Just Lost 90k Instagram Followers After a Devastating HACK". The WOW Report. March 2, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  23. ^ "Big Girl-Single". iTunes.
  24. ^ "I'm In Love - Single". iTunes.
  25. ^ @DragRaceEs (May 15, 2022). "La próxima semana nos espera: 😱 Urnas sorpresa. 💚 Makeover challenge con los miembros de la Fundación 26 de Diciembre. 💥 @alexismateo79 de jueza invitada especial. 👠 Directo ▶ http://atres.red/sj3ec #DragRace8" (Tweet). Retrieved May 17, 2022 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ Rice, Lynette (May 1, 2023). "'Drag Me To Dinner': Hulu Announces Premiere Date For Unscripted Series From Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  27. ^ Nolfi, Joey (June 26, 2024). "Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World season 2 cast of queens revealed: Bam! Alexis Mateo is back, baby". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  28. ^ ALEXIS MATEO on Hey Qween! with Jonny McGovern. YouTube. March 25, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  29. ^ Drag Queen Video Dates: Alexis Mateo. YouTube. September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  30. ^ BESTIES FOR CASH - Alexis Mateo and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. YouTube. January 7, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  31. ^ Whatcha Packin': SPOILER ALERT! | S5 E6 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. YouTube. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  32. ^ Lessner, Justin (October 7, 2020). "These Latinx 'Drag Race' Queens Are Reuniting For 'Dragueando' And It's About Time". We Are Mitu. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  33. ^ FASHION PHOTO RUVIEW: Drag Race España - De Mercadillo. WOWPresents. June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  34. ^ Portrait of a Queen 👑 Jaida Essence Hall | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7. RuPaul's Drag Race. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  35. ^ ALEXIS MATEO - "Give It To Me Straight" Ep3 - Hosted by Maddy Morphosis. Maddy Morphosis. August 2, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  36. ^ SNEAK PEEK - Binge Queens: Drag Race Mexico, airing Tuesdays only on WOW Presents Plus!. WOW Presents. June 23, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  37. ^ Behind-The-Scenes 🤩🎬 Honoring Latinx Heroes | LGBTQ Herstory Month | RuPaul's Drag Race 👠✨. RuPaul’s Drag Race. October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  38. ^ Nolfi, Joey (October 5, 2023). "Drag Race queens unite for new RuPaul's Drag Race Live Untucked TV series". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
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