How Victoria 'Porkchop' Parker Left A Lasting Impact On RuPaul's Drag Race
When it comes to the success of former contestants on "RuPaul's Drag Race," you don't always have to win the competition to stay in the spotlight. In fact, some of the most financially successful queens didn't take home the crown. According to Money Inc, some of the most well-off queens are Alyssa Edwards, Katya, and Latrice Royale, each with a net worth of over $1 million. These queens didn't even make it to the finale, getting eliminated before the top queens were selected.
While some queens have gone on to successful careers without taking home the grand prize, others have made a name for themselves following controversial eliminations. Willam from Season 4 of "Drag Race" has been a force in the industry following her disqualification from the show (per Vulture).
Other queens have risen to popularity for exiting the show first. Few queens have left a lasting impression after only one episode like Victoria 'Porkchop' Parker.
Porkchop was the first queen ever eliminated from Drag Race
Victoria 'Porkchop' Parker was the first queen to exit the inaugural season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" back in 2009. When she was on the show, it was significantly less popular than it is now, but she has been able to stay in the spotlight as over 100 other queens have come in and out of that bright pink workroom (via Entertainment Tonight).
Porkchop's influence has lived on thanks in part to being the first queen to ever get eliminated from the show. When she chose to go on "RuPaul's Drag Race," it wasn't an experience other members of the drag community thought would be worthwhile. She told Billboard she was fired by the manager of the nightclub she worked at in her North Carolina hometown. "He told me that I had made a horrible career decision, that it was going to be the worst thing I'd ever done," she says. "So no, my RuPaul experience initially was not positive."
It wasn't just her early exit that kept her name in lights. It was a love from RuPaul herself that made her a "Drag Race" phenomenon.
She got a whole episode of Season 13 dedicated to her
Victoria 'Porkchop' Parker has become a legend in the "RuPaul's Drag Race" universe. Aside from being the first queen to ever sashay away from the competition, she has made a lasting impression on one of the most important people involved with the show, RuPaul herself!
RuPaul is quick to reference Porkchop during episodes of the show (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet). Most notably, when Porkchop is in the audience for the grand finales, RuPaul always says, "hey Porkchop!" and gives the queen who went home during the debut season more camera time.
She doesn't just show up at the grand finales, she got her own segment during the opening episode of Season 13. The queens were forced to lip-sync against another competitor when they first entered the competition and those who lost were sent to The Porkchop Room, where they were left to figure out if they were really going home or had another chance at the crown. In the end, they weren't given the Porkchop, but the first-ever eliminated queen got to be included in yet another episode anyway (via In Magazine).
Since her time on the show, Porkchop has been crowned Miss DragCon and has continued to tour the world. She even appeared on the Netflix series "AJ and the Queen" with RuPaul and other queens from "Drag Race." She has become a legend!