Jiggly Caliente, ‘RuPaul Drag Race’ Star and Judge, Dies at 44

Fans knew Ms. Caliente for her sense of humor, vigorous dance skills and interactions with fellow cast members on the popular drag television show.

Jiggly Caliente with shoulder-length dark hair and wearing a shiny silver dress.

Jiggly Caliente, the fiercely humorous “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star and a judge of its Philippines spinoff who also had a recurring role as a shopkeeper on the television series “Pose,” died on Sunday. She was 44.

Her death was confirmed on Instagram by her family. The post did not identify a cause of death or where she died.

The death came days after her family said that Ms. Caliente had a recent health setback. The family had said that she was hospitalized because of a severe infection and had surgery in which she lost most of her right leg.

RuPaul's Drag Race' Star Jiggly Caliente Dead at 44 | Us Weekly

Ms. Caliente rose to prominence as a contestant in the fourth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in which she was eliminated in the seventh episode in 2012. She appeared in the sixth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” in 2021 and was eliminated in the second episode.

“Thank you so much for showing every chubby little brown girl in the world that there is always a girl to look up to,” she told RuPaul after her elimination in 2021. “This doesn’t break me. This doesn’t end me. This is the not the last of me.”

Michelle Visage mourns loss of Drag Race 'angel' Jiggly Caliente at 44 | The Independent

Fans knew Ms. Caliente for her humor, vigorous dance skills and splits, and interactions with fellow cast members.

In one episode, she called out a competitor, Lashauwn Beyond, for not knowing how to apply her makeup nicely. Ms. Beyond replied, “This is not ‘RuPaul’s Best Friend Race,’” a line that became a catchphrase in the show.

Jiggly Caliente in a bright pink dress at the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

Created by the entertainer RuPaul Charles in 2009, the show follows a group of national and international drag performers who compete in weekly challenges and lip sync battles to take the top cash prize and crown for that season.

Ms. Caliente was born on Nov. 29, 1980, in San Pedro, Philippines, and moved to the United States in 1991 with her mother and brother.

When she began performing as a drag queen, she named herself after Jigglypuff, the pink spherical character from the popular “Pokémon” franchise.

In 2016, Ms. Caliente came out as a transgender woman. In an Instagram post on Trans Day of Visibility that year, she wrote, “Our trans Brothers and sisters are very much a part of our struggle for equality.”

Jiggly Caliente, star of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' has died

Her popularity on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” led to her becoming a judge on the show’s Philippines version beginning in 2022.

In addition to those appearances, Ms. Caliente had a recurring role as a clothing shopkeeper, Veronica Ferocity, in the FX series “Pose,” which followed a group of young and older gay, transgender and drag performer friends in New York City in the 1980s.

Information about her survivors was not immediately available on Sunday.