‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 4 star was 44

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 4 queen, returning All Stars 6 competitor, and Pose actress Jiggly Caliente has died at age 44 following a hospitalization for a severe infection.

“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Bianca Castro-Arabejo, known to the world and cherished by many as Jiggly Caliente,” her family wrote on Instagram on Sunday, saying she’d died earlier this morning, “surrounded by her loving family and close friends.”

“A luminous presence in the worlds of entertainment and advocacy, Jiggly Caliente was celebrated for her infectious energy, fierce wit, and unwavering authenticity. She touched countless lives through her artistry, activism, and the genuine connection she fostered with fans around the world,” their statement continued.

“Her legacy is one of love, courage, and light. Though her physical presence is gone, the joy she shared and the space she helped create for so many will remain forever. She will be deeply missed, always loved, and eternally remembered,” it concluded.

A cause of death was not stated, but Jiggly’s family had announced on Thursday that the entertainer “experienced a serious health setback” that unfolded across the last month, and eventually led to her hospitalization.

The family said that the setback resulted in “the loss of most of her right leg,” and that she would not be returning to the Drag Race Philippines judging panel — where she’d served as a permanent panelist since 2022 — or performing “for the foreseeable future.”

Born in the Philippines before moving to Queens as a child, Jiggly first rose to international prominence on season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she placed 8th overall, but left a lasting impression thanks to her comical confessionals and her infamous “baked potato couture” look on the season premiere’s Apocalyptic Couture runway.

Though the design was derided by the judges, it quickly became a fan-favorite look among viewers, and Jiggly’s resulting lip-sync victory against Alisa Summers kept her in the competition.

Following her appearance on Drag Race, Jiggly worked as an actress, appearing in a 2018 Saturday Night Live sketch about a drag queen-centric GPS device, performing small parts on Broad City, and later booking a recurring role on FX’s Pose drama series.

Jiggly remained on Pose across all three seasons of the Ryan Murphy series as Veronica Ferocity, member of the House of Ferocity ball collective.

While Pose’s narrative followed several trans characters, Jiggly came out as transgender herself in 2016.

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Following her rise as an actress, Jiggly returned to Drag Race among the cast of All Stars 6 in 2021, where she was eliminated on episode 2.

In her All Stars 6 exit interview, Jiggly told Entertainment Weekly that she wanted to keep building her filmography — and even had aspirations to be in a big-budget Marvel movie in the future.

“There’s a stigma with reality TV personalities who want to be actors, and that’s why, when I auditioned for Pose, I didn’t audition as Jiggly Caliente, I auditioned as Bianca! I didn’t want people to box me in as a reality star. I wanted people to give me a fair shot,” she said at the time. “When I got the call from All Stars, I couldn’t possibly turn it down. I’m in a different space in life. It just felt like it was time for me to do this and compete in a whole different mindset, the right mindset to actually compete — and I got my teeth fixed!”