Hayley Kiyoko Appeared on a ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Spinoff Before Judging Season 15
RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race included an appearance from Queen Eleza Beth, also known as Lemonade Mouth actor, Hayley Kiyoko. This musician returns for RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15, judging the queens for one episode of the reality competition series.
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 15 featuring celebrity cameos by Ariana Grande and Hayley Kiyoko
Start your engines, squirrel friends. Season 15 of the Emmy Award-winning competition featured a new set of drag queens. Each showcased their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent on the runway — some meeting celebrities along the way.
This season already premiered on MTV on Jan. 6, with Ariana Grande appearing as the first celebrity guest behind the judge’s panel. She even sashayed into the Werk Room, confirming that “mother has arrived,” or rather, returned, to Drag Race.
Other guest judges on season 15 include Janelle Monáe, Maren Morris, Orville Peck, Ali Wong, Amandla Stenberg, Harvey Guillén, Julia Garner, and Megan Statler. There will also be the return of Lemonade Mouth cast member Kiyoko.
Hayley Kiyoko previously appeared in ‘RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race’
In 2020, RuPaul created the spinoff competition, RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race. For the first season of Secret Celebrity Drag Race, public figures like Vanessa Williams, Jordan Connor, and Madison Beer got dragged up for a chance at the crown. Kiyoko even came to slay for one episode.
“I mean, the opportunity came to me, and I jumped at it,” Kiyoko said during an interview with Billboard. “It sounded amazing, I love the community around Drag Race. But it also sounded really terrifying, because it’s not an easy thing to do! It’s not just, “Oh, you put some cool makeup on!” No, it is truly a full transformation.”
Vanessa “Miss Vanjie” Mateo mentored this actor, transforming her into the drag persona Queen Eleza Beth. She won the lip-sync at the end of the episode, becoming that week’s winner, baby. It makes sense that Kiyoko would return for a regular season of the reality competition series.
“We live in a world where we constantly compare ourselves to one another, and drag is an art form where you are able to just totally be your own person and be in your own lane,” she added in the same interview.
Hayley Kiyoko is the artist behind ‘Girls Like Girls’ and ‘Found My Friends’
She’s an activist, actor, and musician. Some Disney Channel viewers know her for her starring role in Lemonade Mouth as Stella Yamada. Kiyoko is also an outspoken member of the LGBTQ community.
Recently, this artist focused on releasing original music. She debuted Panorama in 2022, complete with “found my friends,” “deep in the woods,” “chance,” and other new tracks. One of her most popular songs is the single “Girls Like Girls” which currently has over 120 million Spotify plays.
