Since its second season, EastSiders has been featuring drag queens in what was already a very exciting LGBTQ+ cast. For its fourth and final season – which was picked up by Netflix for exclusive streaming rights – EastSiders brought back several beloved drag queens to the small screen, including RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Willam, Manila Luzon, and Katya, Dragula Season 2 winner Biqtch Puddin’, and Peruvian-born L.A. queen Martha BeatChu. Talk about a reunion!

Now that Eastsiders Season 4 is out and we’ve watched these queens do their thing, are you curious to get to know them better? Read below to discover some fun facts about the queens featured on the show!

MANILA LUZON WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Before she was able to afford to become a full-time drag queen who made enough money, Manila Luzon was actually quite the accomplished graphic designer. Among her accomplishments in the field, Manila revealed that she co-designed some of the very popular covers for the bound leather novels sold by Barnes & Noble.

To this day, you can buy leather-bound novels such as Wicked/Son of a Witch, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Count of Monte Cristo at Barnes & Noble and see Manila Luzon’s graphic design work on those covers. A queen of many talents, such as Barnes & Noble designer and Netflix actress!

KATYA AUDITIONED FOR DRAG RACE A FEW TIMES

Fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race got to meet Katya on the show’s 7th season, when she was picked as Miss Congeniality. However, that was not necessarily Katya’s first time auditioning for the series.

In fact, an audition tape from Katya can be seen during Season 3’s “Casting Extravaganza” episode, which means that the queen had been trying to get on the show for a few years. On Twitter, Katya also alluded to a Season 6 audition tape, which was just a year before she was finally cast. In hindsight, can you imagine Katya on the same season as Bianca Del Rio, Adore Delano, and Courtney Act?

BIQTCH PUDDIN’ HID HER SEXUALITY BUT WAS STILL HEAVILY BULLIED

Watching Biqtch Puddin’ now – winning Season 2 of Dragula and acting on Eastsiders –, it is hard to imagine that anything could ever phase this queen. However, this self-described “Navy brat” experienced a lot of bullying throughout her childhood, which prompted her to fight against her sexuality for many years.

During an interview with Wussy Magazine, Biqtch Puddin’ revealed that she was called homophobic slurs back in school: “I didn’t even know what that meant. I was always the new kid in school every two years. I was just an easy target.”

WILLAM WAS ELIMINATED FOR VERY DIFFERENT REASONS

Many RuPaul’s Drag Race fans went on to believe that Willam was disqualified from Season 4 for the reasons she herself revealed during the season finale. As the story goes, Willam was receiving conjugal visits from her husband, but having interactions with people from outside the show was strictly prohibited during shooting.

However, that does not seem to be the case. In 2018, Willam revealed a much longer and complicated story that led to her disqualification from Drag Race. In short, Willam believes that she was disqualified for many reasons that would have exposed the show’s allegedly negligent security detail around the contestants at the time.

MARTA BEATCHU IS A PROUD PERUVIAN QUEEN

If you are only getting to know Marta BeatChu after watching her on Eastsiders, it is important to note that this is a proud Peruvian queen who resides in Los Angeles. In fact, Marta’s name is a play on Machu Picchu, the world-famous 15th century Incan estate that attracts so many visitors to Peru on a regular basis.

According to Marta BeatChu, both of her parents were born and raised in Peru, which makes this queen proud of her heritage even when in drag.

THE ORIGIN STORY OF KATYA’S NAME

Many Katya fans assume that there’s no particular origin story to her name, that it probably just sounded Russian enough. However, Katya’s full name – Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova – is a lot more specific than people give her credit for.

Overall, Katya’s full name is a combination between common Russian names and Elena Zamolodchikova, who happens to be from Russia as well as Katya’s favorite gymnast. Before her time on Drag Race, Katya also went by ‘Katya Homophobia’ when performing in Boston. In any case, it comes as no surprise that this queen would have a hilarious name on Eastsiders. In the series, Katya plays a character called Summer Clearance.

MANILA LUZON WAS NOT ALLOWED TO WEAR A CERTAIN DRESS ON ALL STARS 4

During Manila Luzon’s time on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4, the queen had a different idea for the “Curves & Swerves” runway challenge. Originally, Manila planned on wearing a so-called ‘period down’ that resembled a tampon that had soaked up menstrual blood. However, according to the queen, RuPaul called the dress “bad taste” and she was told by the production team to wear something else.

On TV, fans saw Manila Luzon slay the “Curves & Swerves” challenge from All Stars 4 anyway. In fact, she made it to the Top Two of that week and lip synced against Monique Heart to “The B*tch Is Back” by Tina Turner.

WILLAM IMPROVISED HER SCENES IN A STAR IS BORN

If you’ve watched Eastsiders, you probably already know that Willam (who has been on the show since Season 2) has great comedic timing as an actor. However, what you may not know is that most of the lines Willam had in A Star Is Born were completely improvised.

During an interview with IndieWire, Willam revealed that none of the “four or five” lines she originally had in the script ended up in the final cut of A Star Is Born. Instead, the queen improvised her iconic scenes asking for Jack (Bradley Cooper’s character) to sign her breastplate.

MARTA BEATCHU HAS MANY DRAG RACE CONNECTIONS

Marta BeatChu may not be a RuPaul’s Drag Race girl (yet?), but as a Los Angeles queen, she is certainly very well-connected in the scene. In the club circuit, Marta has worked with Drag Race queens such as Morgan McMichaels, Mayhem Miller, Pandora Boxx, Mariah Balenciaga, Monique Heart, Eureka O’Hara, and others.

What’s more, Marta BeatChu seems to have a good relationship with All Stars 3 winner Trixie Mattel, with whom she attended the 2018 Queerty Awards as well as Kim Chi’s makeup launch event in 2019.

THE ORIGIN OF BIQTCH PUDDIN’S NAME

Dragula winner Biqtch Puddin’ certainly has an unusual name, but it is still a name that Robot Chicken fans might recognize. If you are not familiar with the Adult Swim animated series, B*tch Pudding was a recurring character on Robot Chicken. Essentially, the character was a parody of the title character in the animated series Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures. Here, however, this young southern girl was actually quite mean and murderous.

While Biqtch Puddin’ is still a creation that is entirely her own, there are certainly some parallels that we can draw when comparing the drag queen to the animated character. An unusual name origin story, to say the least!