Victoria "Porkchop" Parker

Victoria "Porkchop" Parker
Performing in the 2017 Queens For The Cure Tour in Louisville
Born Victor Bowling
(1969-01-16) January 16, 1969
Occupation Drag queen, actor
Years active 1987–present

Victoria "Porkchop" Parker is the stage name of Victor Bowling.[1] He is an American Drag performer and actor, best known for competing on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race and being the very first contestant eliminated from the series. Parker has been called one of the most successful drag queens in their careers after Rupaul's Drag Race, and has been brought back to the show by Rupaul several times in homage to being the first elimination in the show's history. Parker has appeared on television as both himself and Porkchop, and as a backup dancer for Miley Cyrus. Parker has also won over 100 pageants and toured internationally as a drag queen.

Early life and pageants

Bowling was born on January 16, 1969 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He started doing drag on his 17th birthday on 1987.[2] He was later kicked out of his parents home that year for being gay.[3] He was attacked at a gay bar which resulted in a gunshot wound and acid damage on his face, requiring surgery. He had silicone injections done by an unlicensed nurse in 1999, resulting in granuloma.[4]

He started doing drag pageants in 1990, with his first being the "Miss Gay USofA at Large 1990".

Pageant History

Victoria has won over 100 pageants.[5]

She has participated in the following:[6]

  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 1990 (2nd alternate)
  • Miss Gay North Carolina USofA at Large 1992
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 1992 (4th alternate)
  • Miss Gay Ohio USofA at Large 1994
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 1994 (4th alternate)
  • Miss North Carolina National 1995
  • Miss Gay Florida USofA at Large 1995
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 1995 (2nd alternate)
  • Miss Virginia Continental Plus 1995
  • Miss Gay North Carolina USofA 1996 (1st alternate)
  • Miss Gay North Carolina USofA at Large 1996
  • Miss Club Odyssey 1998
  • Miss Big & Beautiful 1998
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 1999 (4th alternate)
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 2000 (2nd alternate)
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 2001 (1st alternate)
  • Miss Global International Diva 2002
  • Miss Missouri Continental Plus 2003
  • Miss Continental Plus 2003
  • Miss International Plus 2005
  • Miss Gay Tennessee America 2005
  • Miss Gay America 2006 (2nd alternate)
  • Miss Gay Mid America 2006
  • Ramona LeGer’ Evening Gown Award 2007
  • Miss Gay America 2007 (Top ten)
  • Miss Gay D.C. America 2007
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 2007 (2nd alternate)
  • Miss Gay America 2008 (Top ten)
  • Miss Gay North Carolina America 2008
  • Miss Gay Indiana USofA at Large 2009
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 2009 (2nd alternate)
  • Miss Gay USofA at Large 2010 (3rd alternate)
  • Miss Tri-State All-Star 2012
  • Miss’d America 2012 (1st alternate)
  • Miss’d America 2013 (Won)[7][8]

Films

In 2008, he appeared in the documentary film "Pageant" with Alyssa Edwards and other queens detailing their experience on Miss Gay America.[9]

Drag Race

Parker was announced as one of the nine contestants for the inaugural season of RuPaul's Drag Race on February 2, 2009. He's been described as the season's only older and plus-sized queen.[10] Parker was eliminated during the first episode, becoming the very first contestant ever eliminated in the history of the show. Because of this, RuPaul always addresses him with "Hey Porkchop" during all of the Drag Race live reunions, starting with season 4.[11]

Parker has been brought back on the show by Rupaul several times, in homage to being the first contestant ever eliminated.[12] She appeared during the recap episode of Rupaul's Drag Race: All Stars 2 and was featured in winning queen Alaska's rap.[13][14] Parker was also brought back for the first episode of season 10 of Rupaul's Drag Race to help judge the mini-challenge.[15]

In the first episode of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars 3, Vanessa Hudgens lip synced against "Porkchop," an actual porkchop, which Rupaul said was Parker.[16][17]

Post-Drag Race

In March 2018, Variety said that Parker was one of the 10 most successful queens in their careers after the show.[18] She has toured internationally.[18] In 2015, Parker made a minor appearance along with Chad Michaels in an episode of 2 Broke Girls.[19] He was a backup dancer with 30 other drag queens for Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA Awards performance.[20] Parker was on the E! show Botched (Season 3, Episode 4) to fix the silicone problems with his nose, including a point where the skin was starting to decay.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "The Other White Meat". 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  2. ↑ "All About Victoria "Porkchop" Parker". chloemayward. 2016-08-29. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  3. ↑ Qween, Hey (2017-06-06). "'Drag Race' Legend Porkchop Shares Her Words Of Wisdom". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  4. ↑ "This drag queen's nose started to DECAY after he had surgery on it". Mail Online. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  5. ↑ "Meet All 30 Of Miley's Day-Glo Dancers From Her Insane VMA Performance". MTV News. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  6. ↑ "Victoria Parker". Our Community Roots. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  7. ↑ Miss'd America
  8. ↑ Miss Victoria ‘Porkchop’ Parker is Miss’d America
  9. ↑ "Victoria PorkChop Parker and Nina Bonina Brown Spill the T on HEY QWEEN". The WOW Report. 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  10. ↑ Daems, Jim (2014-10-13). The Makeup of RuPaul’s Drag Race: Essays on the Queen of Reality Shows. McFarland. ISBN 9781476618869.
  11. ↑ "'RuPaul's Drag Race: Reunited': A preview chat with RuPaul". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  12. ↑ Sava, Oliver. "A middling Drag Race All Stars is elevated by the return of a fan-favorite". TV Club. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  13. ↑ Bourgoin, Jean-Maxime. "RuPaul et 25 de ses drag queens pour son anniversaire". Le Journal de Montréal (in French). Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  14. ↑ "13 "RuPaul's Drag Race" All-Stars Who Aren't In This Season". Seventeen. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  15. ↑ "RuPaul Brings Back Katya, Porkchop, Kim Chi, Jujubee, Detox, and More to Help Judge the First Mini-Challenge of Season 10". VH1 News. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  16. ↑ "The Most Gag-Worthy Moments From the Premiere of 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3'". Flare. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  17. ↑ "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3' Recap: They're Back!". Instinct. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  18. 1 2 Turchiano, Danielle (2018-03-16). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' at 10: Launching the Next Wave of Drag Superstars". Variety. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  19. ↑ "Chad Michaels And Victoria "PorkChop" Parker Do Primetime TV On "2 Broke Girls"". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  20. ↑ "Meet All 30 Of Miley's Day-Glo Dancers From Her Insane VMA Performance". MTV News. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  21. ↑ "The Botched Doctors Help a Patient With a Pork Chop Nose, Remove Star Implants on a Patient's Ribs & More OMG Show Moments! on Botched". E! Online. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
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