RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Shangela will be the first drag queen to compete on the U.S. edition of Dancing with the Stars. She’s been cast in the reality competition show’s 31st season, which will premiere September 19 on Disney+.
Shangela celebrated the announcement with an Instagram post earlier today featuring a photo of her appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America alongside Sam Champion, Wayne Brady, Jordin Sparks, and Vinny Guadagnino.
“I feel so honored to be the first drag entertainer to compete on the show,” she wrote. “It’s about darn time!!! So all y’all who’ve been in my corner all these years, tell a friend! We’ve got Another One! Let’s go win this Crown… I mean, Mirrorball! I luv y’all!”
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Shangela has been paired with pro dancer Gleb Savchenko for the competition. “The news are out! [sic] Meet my partner @itsshangela. So stoked!” Savchenko wrote in an Instagram post. “It’s gonna be a one of a kind amazing season on @dancingwiththestars. Now we need a team name!”
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The show’s official Twitter account also shared a video of Savchenko meeting Shangela for the first time.
Miss @itsSHANGELA is here and ready to strut her stuff on #DWTS! 🙌 @Gleb_Savchenko pic.twitter.com/Gf2bkdNG8U
— Dancing with the Stars #DWTS (@officialdwts) September 8, 2022
JoJo Siwa previously made TV history on DWTS’s 30th season, when she and dance partner Jenna Johnson became the first same-sex couple on the show.
This certainly isn’t the first time Shangela has broken new ground. Since appearing on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race all the way back in 2010, she has had quite a few firsts. In 2019, she became the first drag queen to walk the red carpet at the Oscars after appearing opposite Lady Gaga in Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star is Born.
“It was a moment I hope really inspires people to never give up on their dreams,” she told Out at the time.
Then, this June, Shangela delivered a speech at Vice President Kamala Harris’s Pride Month celebration at the vice-presidential residence at Number One Observatory Circle. That made her the first drag queen ever to attend an event held by a sitting vice president in U.S. history.
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