Shannel

Bryan Watkins, known by her stage name Shannel,[1] is an American drag queen and television personality, best known for competing on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race and later the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. She placed in the top four on both seasons.

Shannel
Shannel lip syncing live in 2018
Born
Bryan Watkins

(1979-07-03) July 3, 1979
OccupationDrag queen
Years active1994–present
Known for
Websitetheofficialshannel.com

Early life

Watkins was born on July 3, 1979, in Orange County, California.[2] He started doing drag at fifteen years old when he entered a Halloween drag contest and won. He worked as a beauty advisor for the cosmetics company Chanel. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2000.[3]

RuPaul's Drag Race

Shannel was announced as one of nine contestants for the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2009).[4] In the third episode, she was in the bottom two with fellow competitor Akashia, and won a lip sync against her to "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston. She famously did the first "wig reveal" on the show during the lip sync.[5] She was later eliminated in the sixth episode after losing a lip sync to "Shackles (Praise You)" by Mary Mary against Rebecca Glasscock.[6]

Shannel was announced as being among twelve returning contestants for the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars in 2012.[7] Due to the team twist for the season, Shannel teamed with eventual winner Chad Michaels as the team Shad.[8] They won the third, fourth and fifth episode challenges, until Shannel was eliminated in joint third/fourth place with Jujubee.[9]

Shannel also was a drag professor for three seasons of the spin-off show RuPaul's Drag U in 2010 to 2012.[10]

She appeared as a guest star on the first episode of Drag Race's eighth season.[11] She appeared with her fellow season one cast on the Drag Race season ten finale, lip syncing next to Mayhem Miller.[12][13]

Shannel was credited as a Creative Consultant for the premiere episode of RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race. She also made an appearance making over celebrity Nico Tortorella, though it was ultimately cut from the episode.[14]

Career

Outside of Drag Race, Shannel appeared in an episode of The Arrangement in 2010.[15] She appeared in the music video for Lady Gaga's "Applause" with Raven, Morgan McMichaels, Shangela Laquifa Wadley and Detox.[16] She was also in the video for Xelle's "Queen" in 2012.[17] She was part of Frank Marino's Divas Las Vegas show in 2017.[18][19]

In September 2019, at RuPaul’s DragCon NYC, Shannel was named as one of a rotating cast of a dozen Drag Race queens in RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a Las Vegas show residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas.[20]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2009 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Contestant (4th place)
2010 The Arrangement
2010-12 RuPaul's Drag U Herself
2012 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Herself Contestant (3rd/4th place)
2012 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked Herself

Music videos
Year Title Artist
2012 Queen Xelle
2013 Applause Lady Gaga

Web series
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 WOW Shopping Network Herself Guest [21]
Ring My Bell Guest [22]
2016 The Pit Stop Guest [23]
Drag Makeup Tutorial Guest [24]
2020 Hey Qween Guest [25]

References
  1. "Q&A: Bryan Watkins". Las Vegas Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  2. Nunn, Jerry. "The drag all-star on surviving RuPaul's Drag Race". ChicagoPride.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  3. "Shannel". Piranha Nightclub. 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  4. Stanley, Alessandra. "Logo's New Reality Competition Explores What It Takes To Be a Drag Star". Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  5. "INTO: A Digital Magazine for The Modern Queer World". www.intomore.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  6. "The Drag Race Rutrospective: Ow! My Balls!". Xtra. 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  7. "'RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race': Meet the Queens". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  8. "Chad Michaels & Shannel Share Tearful Moment on 'Drag Race'". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  9. "'RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race' season finale recap". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  10. Gascot, John (2011-07-12). "Drag U: Professor Shannel". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  11. "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 8 Premiere: Keepin' It 100". Observer. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  12. VH1 (2018-06-28), Lip Sync Eleganza Extravaganza Performance 💃 ‘Finale Sneak Peek’ | RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10, retrieved 2018-08-17
  13. "Watch 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 1 queens reunite to slay in season 10 finale preview". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  14. Damshenas, Sam (27 April 2020). "Shannel says she was "cut" from RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race". GayTimes. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  15. "Shannel Guest Stars on "The Arrangement" - The Arrangement (Video Clip) | LOGOtv". Logo TV. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  16. "Detox, Raven, Shannel & Morgan McMichaels To Star In Lady Gaga "Applause" Music Video". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  17. "20 Music Videos With Drag Queen Cameos". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  18. "'Frank Marino's Divas Las Vegas': Bigger and better". Las Vegas Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  19. "The stars align with 'Frank Marino's Divas Las Vegas'". Las Vegas Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  20. Ramos, Dino-Ray (September 7, 2019). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Sets Live Show In Las Vegas". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  21. Shannel on WOW Shopping Network. YouTube. April 25, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  22. Shannel - Ring My Bell. YouTube. September 5, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  23. RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 8 Ep. 8 Recap) | The Pit Stop with Kingsley & Shannel | Logo. YouTube. April 25, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  24. Drag Makeup Tutorial: Shannel's 'Medusa Look' | RuPaul's Drag Race | Logo. YouTube. April 30, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  25. SHANNEL on Hey Qween! with Jonny McGovern. YouTube. February 3, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
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