Darius’ story starts with a little boy, a big personality and even bigger hair. He is a native of Paris, Texas, the second largest city of Paris in the world. He grew up as an only child with a Army veteran single mom, hard-working aunt and a lovable church-attending grandparents.

His grandpa was a pig and cattle farmer and lucky for Darius he didn’t follow in the family business. A pair of Louboutins doesn’t do well in pasture mud. Darius spent his childhood singing in the church choir, playing Atari and tracing dresses from the bridal section of his granny’s JCPenney catalog.

Darius wasn’t openly gay in high school. He was the first male cheerleader since 1968 (back when they were called Yell Leaders), went to senior prom with his best friend and dressed in drag to get A’s on his creative English projects. Darius graduated high school, found his identity as a gay man, studied abroad for a year in Madrid, worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, fell in love, out of love and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.

Darius worked hard to fulfill his dreams and the evening before a performance for a charity event he learned that one of the drag queens had backed out. With the help of his drag sisters he hit the stage. Shangela was born. Five months after performing in her first show, she was cast on season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race! She quit her job and set off to become the next drag superstar. Unfortunately, she was sent sashaying away after only the first episode. She was left jobless in the middle of a recession and unsure about what to do next.

Shanelga didn’t give up! She has been on the move since the show and has had guest star roles on the FX series Terriers and ABC drama Detroit 187. She has performed a variety of comedy shows and appeared in the short film, Body of a Barbie on BET. In 2010 Shangela took home the crown for California Entertainer of the Year. Shangela was brought back to RuPaul’s Drag Race for season three and proved that she is fierce competition!

“You never know where life can take you, but do what feels right and makes you happy. Stay positive, hold tight to good friends and always follow your dreams!”

2011/12