Willow Patterson (born January 22, 1995), known by the stage name Willow Pill, is an American drag performer. She is best known as the winner of season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2022.
In an interview with KGNU in 2016, Willow Pill explained her drag persona was "a mix of 41 and 14... I'm kind of obsessed with little stoner girls as well as older women, like moms, that can't catch a break."[2] Her first performance was at a Colorado State University drag show, where she wore "a pink '90s housewife tracksuit, complete with glasses and a pearl necklace." She performed a comedy routine and danced to a mix of Missy Elliott and Gwen Stefani songs.[3]
In 2022, Willow Pill gained wider prominence as a contestant on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race, where she won the main challenge on the third episode, earning a cash prize of $5,000. Her Snatch Game performance as Drew Barrymore placed her in the bottom seven,[4] and she participated in the lip-sync tournament on episode eight.[5] She won the first round against Bosco.[5] She placed in the bottom a second time during episode 14, and was required to "lip sync for her life" against Angeria Paris VanMicheals. Following their performance of "Telephone" by Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé, neither was eliminated, resulting in five contestants advancing to the finale, a first for the series.[citation needed]
On the April 22, 2022, season finale, Willow Pill performed "I Hate People"[6] and defeated Lady Camden in a lip-sync battle to Cher's version of ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" and was declared the season's winner, earning a cash prize of $150,000, the highest amount awarded to date in a regular season so far.[7] After being crowned the winner of season 14, Willow Pill became the second openly transgender person to win a regular season of RuPaul's Drag Race in the United States,[8][9] and the sixth openly transgender contestant to win a season of the Drag Race franchise at the time of their crowning.[a]
Personal life
Patterson has had cystinosis her whole life and identifies as transfemme, as one of the five transgender contestants of Season 14.[b][10] She came out via social media: "It's taken me a long time to come to terms with my transness because so much space has been taken up by my illness," Patterson wrote in one of her posts. She uses they/she pronouns.[11]
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