Bianca Del Rio

Bianca Del Rio
Del Rio at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2023
Born
Roy R. Haylock

(1975-06-27) June 27, 1975 (age 48)
EducationWest Jefferson High School
Occupation(s)Drag queen, comedian, actor, costume designer
Years active1993–present
Known forRuPaul's Drag Race (season 6) winner
PredecessorJinkx Monsoon
SuccessorViolet Chachki
Websitethebiancadelrio.com

Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Since her time on Drag Race, Del Rio has written and toured several stand-up shows, including It's Jester Joke (2019), which also made her the first drag queen to headline at Wembley Arena. She has also performed as a host for various international tours, most notably Werq the World. In 2018, she published her first book, Blame It On Bianca Del Rio: The Expert On Nothing With An Opinion On Everything.

Early life

Haylock grew up in Gretna, Louisiana. He is of Cuban descent on his mother's side and Honduran descent on his father's side. He is the fourth of five children. He started acting and designing costumes for plays at West Jefferson High School. After high school, he decided to move to New York City, where he worked at Bloomingdale's for nine months before returning to Louisiana.

Career

Haylock has primarily worked as a costume designer. In 1993, he won a Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Costume Design for Snow Queen at the age of 17. He has been nominated for 13 Big Easy Entertainment Awards for costume design, winning six. Haylock has also made costumes for New Orleans Opera.

In New Orleans, Haylock started performing as a drag artist in 1996 in the play Pageant. The local drag queen Lisa Beaumann saw him in the play and later cast him in shows at the nightclub Oz. Haylock won the New Orleans Gay Entertainer of the Year for three years as drag queen Bianca Del Rio.

In 2001, Bianca Del Rio was selected as co-grand marshal, with Pat "Estelle" Ritter and Rick Thomas, for Southern Decadence XXIX.

Haylock moved to New York City after Hurricane Katrina and worked as a costumer for different shows, ballet and opera, having worked for Barbara Matera, Ltd. He also performed in drag as Bianca Del Rio, including in cabaret with Lady Bunny at XL Nightclub. Notable events included a roast of Patricia Krentcil, better known as "Tan Mom".

Haylock starred in the first regional production of Rent (following its initial Broadway closing) at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans, playing the role of Angel opposite Christopher Bentivegna as Collins.

Del Rio was featured in the web series Queens of Drag: NYC by gay.com in 2010. The series featured fellow New York drag queens Dallas DuBois, Hedda Lettuce, Lady Bunny, Mimi Imfurst, Peppermint, and Sherry Vine. In 2011, Del Rio appeared on One Night Stand Up: Dragtastic! NYC by Logo TV. The episode was filmed live at the Bowery Ballroom and was hosted by Pandora Boxx.

Bianca Del Rio at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2018

Del Rio appeared on the cover of Next for their Summer Yearbook 2012 issue. She appeared on the variety show She's Living for This, hosted by Sherry Vine, in 2012.

In December 2013, Logo announced that Bianca Del Rio was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She quickly became a front-runner among the contestants and a fan favorite, eventually reaching the top three. On May 19, 2014, Del Rio was crowned the winner of the sixth season over runners-up Adore Delano and Courtney Act. She was the second winner and fourth contestant to reach the finale without having to lip sync for her life, and is the first and, to date, the only contestant in the history of the series to make it through the entire competition without ever placing low or in the bottom of a challenge. Del Rio is also the first winner of Hispanic descent of RuPaul's Drag Race.

In 2013, Del Rio was announced as the lead in the independent film Hurricane Bianca, written and directed by Matt Kugelman. An Indiegogo campaign was created to finance the film and was sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a non-profit art services organization in New York City; the campaign raised over $30,000. A sequel, Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate, was released in 2018. As of February 2019, a third film titled Hurricane Bianca 3 is in the works and will include Sykes, Dratch and several Drag Race performers in its cast.

Following her success on Drag Race, Del Rio has written and toured several stand-up shows, including The Rolodex of Hate (2014), Not Today Satan (2015–16), Blame It On Bianca Del Rio (2017–2018), It's Jester Joke (2019), which also made her the first drag queen to headline Wembley Arena, and Unsanitized (2021-2022). She has also performed as a host on the Werq the World tour alongside other Drag Race queens.

In 2019, Del Rio starred as retired drag queen Hugo Battersby/Loco Chanelle in the hit West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed Del Rio first on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former RuPaul's Drag Race contestants. In November that year, it was announced that she would reprise the role for 12 weeks starting December 9. She also reprised the role on selected dates in 2021-22 during the UK tour of the musical. Del Rio also appeared in the movie adaptation of Everybody's Talking About Jamie in a cameo role as Miss Haylock, whose name was based on Del Rio's actual last name.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Cypress Edge Assistant wardrobe
2010 The Sons of Tennessee Williams Himself Documentary
2011 National Lampoon's Dirty Movie Drag Queen Direct-to-video
2016 Hurricane Bianca Richard Martinez / Ms. Bianca Del Rio
2018 Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate
2020 Workhorse Queen Herself Documentary
2021 Everybody's Talking About Jamie Miss Haylock Cameo

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2002 MTV Mardi Gras Herself TV special
2011 One Night Stand Up Episode 10: "Dragtastic NYC"
Threesome Season 1, episodes 3, 4, 14 and 15
Bad Girls Club: New Orleans Season 7, episode 5
2012–13 She's Living for This Season 1, episode 5: "The Bianca Del Rio Episode"
Season 2, episode 4
2014 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 6) Contestant (winner)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (season 5)
2015 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 7) Episode 7: "Snatch Game" (via video message)
Episode 13: "Countdown To The Crown"
Episode 14: "Grand Finale"
Big Brother's Bit on the Side Celebrity panelist for the show on September 17, 2015
2016 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 8) Episode 9: "The Realness"
Bianca's Rolodex of Hate 60-minute stand-up special, aired May 9, 2016 on Logo TV.
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2 Episode 2: "All Stars Snatch Game" (via video message)
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10) Episode 7: "Snatch Game"
2020 AJ and the Queen Drag Queen Guest appearance: Season 1, episode 1
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked (season 2) Herself Episode 3: "Get a Room!" (via video message)
2021 The Sherry Vine Show Guest
Dragging the Classics: The Brady Bunch Carol Brady
NewsBeat Herself Co-host
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 6 Herself (as fake Lip-Sync Assassin) Episode 5: "Pink Table Talk"
2023 Bad Education Herself Series 4, Episode 2
2023 Drag Me to Dinner Hulu original; Main judge
2023 Celebrity Family Feud Guest

Web series

Year Title Role Notes Ref
2010 Queens of Drag: NYC Herself (in drag) Produced by gay.com
2013 Kings of New York Himself Produced by Lucas Entertainment
2014 Really Queen? Herself (in drag) Produced by WOW Presents
2014 Transformations Himself Episode: "Bianca Del Rio"
2018 Drag Tots Dina Saur (voice) 8 episodes
2020-23 The Pit Stop Herself (in drag) Guest; Host (2023)
2022 Bianca Saves Christmas! Herself (voice) Animated short film

Music videos

Year Title Artist(s) Ref.
2014 "Sissy That Walk" RuPaul
2014 "Mean Gays" Courtney Act
2014 "Dance Like You Got Good Credit" Cazwell & Cherie Lily
2015 "Hieeee" Alaska Thunderfuck
2018 "Girly" John Duff

Theatre

Year Title Role Theatre Ref.
1998 Psycho Beach Party Marvel Ann True Brew Theatre
At the Club Toot Sweet on Bourbon Street Cooch Deville Southern Rep Theatre
...And the Ball and All Ernesto North Star Theatre
1999 Southern Rep Theatre
2002 Cabaret Emcee Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre
2003 Bianca's Remote Out of Control Various roles Le Chat Noir
Hollywood Heaven
2004 Grease Vince Fontaine Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre
Murder at Movary Manor Daphne Marigny Theatre
The Bad Seed Hortense Daigle Le Chat Noir
2005 At the Club Toot Sweet on Bourbon Street Cooch Deville Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre
Pageant Miss Industrial Northeast
/ Tawny-Jo Johnson
2008 Cabaret Emcee
Rent Angel Dumott Schunard
2010 She'll Be Dying Bowery Poetry Club
Mayo on Your Breakfast at Tiffany's
2019 Everybody's Talking About Jamie Hugo/Loco Chanelle Apollo Theatre West End.

Credited as Roy Haylock.

2021-2022 Everybody's Talking About Jamie UK Tour Hugo/Loco Chanelle Liverpool Empire

Hull New Theatre

Theatre Royal Brighton

Mayflower Theatre Southampton

Select tour dates across UK in lieu of Shane Ritchie.

Credited as Roy Haylock.

2022 Everybody's Talking About Jamie Hugo/Loco Chanelle Ahmanson Theatre,

Los Angeles

US debut of the production.

Comedy tours

  • The Rolodex of Hate Tour (2014)
  • Not Today Satan Tour (2016–2017)
  • Blame It On Bianca Del Rio Tour (2017–18)
  • It's Jester Joke Tour (2019)
  • Unsanitized Tour (2021-2022)

Awards and nominations

Year Award-giving body Category Work Results Ref.
2014 NewNowNext Awards Best New TV Personality Herself Won
2018 Queerty Awards Funny Person Herself Won
2020 Queerty Awards Drag Royalty Herself Nominated
2022 Queerty Awards Drag Royalty Herself Won

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-09-09 07:47 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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