(Photo courtesy Metro Public Relations)
Jewels Sparkles didn’t win Florida Entertainer of the Year in 2023, but the local preliminary still changed her life.
It’s where she met National EOY 2023 Shontell Sparkles, her soon-to-be drag mother, and her own forebear, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Trinity the Tuck. Jewels joined their ever-expanding empire within months.
“I think they saw the passion behind what I was doing and the potential,” she recalls. “They taught me things and gave me opportunities that I would never have had if I didn’t do EOY — they have helped me so much in navigating my career and polishing my craft.”
“Drag Race” took notice. Jewels was cast on season 17 of the MTV series, airing now, and the network promised she would “enter the competition with intention and strategy.”
She did. Watermark Out News spoke with the Tampa Bay queen about her local roots, newfound international fame and what fans can expect next.
WATERMARK OUT NEWS: What drew you to drag?
JEWELS SPARKLES: I think my introduction to drag was playing with dolls, being in that fantasy and being able to express my femininity somehow. I would literally dip a doll’s hair in boiling hot water with her hair wrapped around straws to give her curly hair, it was stuff like that. I think over time, that outlet ended up being myself doing drag, but that urge to express that femininity has always been in me.
How did Tampa Bay’s drag scene shape you?
I started doing drag in my room when I was about 16, then I started performing in Tampa when I was about 19. I was sneaking into clubs. (Laughs.) I was doing drag in my room, perfecting the image of what I wanted my drag character to be before I ever stepped on a stage. I actually had a theater background, so I wasn’t super worried about the stage portion, but then when I started performing, I realized that there’s way more to a drag performance than just lipsyncing the words. I think most drag scenes for up-and-coming queens are very competitive, but the drag scene in Tampa is extremely competitive; everyone in Tampa knows how to dance.
It’s literally the Battle of the Renaissance. I don’t know why, I cannot explain it to you, but half of the queens were like, flexible Cirque du Soleil dancers, and I was like, “holy shit. I don’t really do anything like this.” But I was obviously competitive and I wanted to get work; I wanted to get my name out there, so I was teaching myself how to be on their level. I’m so grateful because not every scene is like that, not every scene is super dance heavy, and I was able to learn a little bit of something that I probably would not have in another setting.
How did you conceptualize jewels?
It goes back to my childhood and the things that made me happy growing up. I was always into super hyper feminine things. I always collected the dolls, I still collect dolls, and so my aesthetic is always based in that very hyper feminine, almost childlike world. But obviously, we camp things up a bit and we make it a little sexier than we should, hello! But I always think back to, “what would my inner child like?” That’s always what inspires the drag.
You competed in Florida EOY, what was that like?
That pageant completely changed my life. I was very, very naive to the gravity of how big EOY was. I thought it was a bar pageant, and I was looking for ways to kind of grow my drag, and I did not realize that EOY was one of the biggest pageants in the world. I went in there and gave it my all without really knowing how intense and prestigious the pageant was.
I think that definitely showed with my package, I was not on the other girls’ levels at all, but I still caught the attention of Trinity The Tuck and Shontelle Sparkles, who are icons … I always say I’m like the outlier in the Shontelle/Trinity the Tuck family, because I don’t really do the drag style that they do, but you can tell I’m part of the family because the polish is there, the wit is there, everything that it takes is there. It’s just a very different style.
Did your relationship with them lead you to “drag race” or did you always want to audition?
“Drag Race” I feel was always on the vision board for me. Did I think it was going to happen this soon? Absolutely not. And I don’t think it would have happened without Trinity’s help and guidance. She forced me to do pageants.
Listen, I did that one pageant, I never wanted to be a pageant queen, but she was like, “If you want to do ‘Drag Race,’ if ‘Drag Race’ is something you are passionate about and really want in your life … pageants will prepare you for the intensity that ‘Drag Race’ is. You need to be able to take critique. You need to be able to come up with talent numbers. You need to be able to do an entrance and get people interested in you.”
When you think about it, “Drag Race” is just a really big, very long pageant. Televised, but it’s a pageant. So she and Shontelle sent me all over the country doing random pageants until I got a crown — and then they were like, “Okay, I think it’s time for you to audition for the show” and I got on with my very first try. I had never auditioned before.
What was that like?
I didn’t think I was ready to audition, I thought I needed another year. But when you have people in your corner that believe in you, and they’re like, “No, you can do this. We see it for you,” it’s kind of hard to say no — and they were right. I did it and I got on and it’s so crazy.
Congratulations!
Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s insane. “Drag Race” always feels like this unreachable goal, this unreachable dream. It’s kind of like the golden ticket of drag. You can see it, and you can reach for it, but it’s almost untouchable. It’s surreal to this day that I grabbed it. I didn’t touch it, I grabbed it, and that’s the craziest part of this whole thing. I’m still processing the fact that this has happened, that I did it. It’s crazy.
How did you prepare?
You really have to trust your instincts and guts. I felt like the whole year before getting the call was the preparation. I was practicing talent numbers. I was making sure that I knew how to sew stuff for pageants. I was making sure I could fix my hair and learn to do different things I was going to need in my tool belt for the show. So luckily, that whole year before getting on the show, I was fresh with all of that … You have to really know who you are and you have to really know your drag esthetic, because it’s just go, go, go, go, go. It’s quick, it’s stressful.
Florida has a long history of “Drag Race” queens. Why do you think we’ve made such an impact?
You know what? Florida is … a very red state, right? We, as queer people here, have to fight twice as hard in order to be really seen or noticed. I think that shows in the drag. The girls here are fighting 10 times as hard — like I said, everyone here in Tampa is like a professional Cirque du Soleil dancer, but hello! The girls are doing it all. The girls in Orlando are known for creating looks from head to toe, to just be the best, because we’re making up for the reputation that Florida has.
So when you think, “oh, my God, Florida is such a scary place,” the drag is so much fiercer and I think that transcends it. People aren’t always horrified of Florida anymore, because the drag is really good. You can’t say anything about the Florida drag because we’re really making sure that we’re beating that reputation.
You watched the “Drag Race” premiere at The Wet Spot. What was that like?
It’s a core memory for me. It’s something that I’ll never forget, looking in the audience and seeing every single person who has helped me get to this point, whether it be friends, bosses, supporters, people who have booked me for shows, show directors, my parents, my uncles, my aunts, my best friends that have been with me through four gigs a week until 4 a.m. just to support me.
To celebrate that first moment with those people was something I’ll never forget, truly, and then for that to be like an episode where I was in the top two— it was just a beautiful, beautiful moment to kind of send me off into the wolves. (Laughs.) That was something that I’ll hold on to and cherish forever.
What’s changed for you since the show premiered?
Oh my God. I feel like everything has changed. I’m so honored that I get to do drag full time now. That is, I think, the most beautiful gift, because … it’s so unrealistic for drag to be someone’s full-time job. Not only is drag so expensive, but in a city like Tampa, where there are not that many drag clubs, it’s almost impossible for one queen to make a living doing drag. On top of that, drag is so expensive, and to do drag well is even more expensive. So I think the most beautiful thing about this whole thing for me is that I can put my whole energy, my whole love, into drag now … and also, just being recognized for my art. I knew “Drag Race” was big and major, but it’s gotten to the point where I go to Trader Joe’s and people are like, “Oh my God, wait, you’re from ‘Drag Race.’ I love you. I love your drag.” Being recognized on another level for something that I’m so passionate about, that means the world to me.
And then also getting to represent Puerto Rico and Cuba on this show — the Puerto Rican and Cuban queens don’t always get the best rep on the show and right now, in politics, Puerto Rico is getting an even worse rep, and so much is going on with our government officials saying such terrible things about my island. But it’s such an honor to be able to represent the beauty that’s from Puerto Rico. The talent that comes from Puerto Rico, the sass, the personality, all of it, it’s such a beautiful thing. It’s an honor to get to represent that.
Is there anything you want to tease about the rest of this season?
What I can say is, whenever you think you know what to expect, you’re so wrong, because it is so crazy. This season is so crazy. The cast, we’re all really good friends, so we are really comfortable telling each other exactly how we feel and I think it just gets crazier and crazier. (Laughs.) So strap in and enjoy the ride!
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV. Follow Jewels Sparkles @TheJewelsSparkles for information about local appearances and more.
