Deborah Ombres is a Spanish
drag queen and
actor notable for being the country's first drag television host. Díaz's stage name, Deborah Ombres, is a play on words in
Spanish. It sounds exactly the same as ''Devorahombres'' (which means, literally, "men-devourer"), a
compound word formed from ''devorar'' (to devour) and ''hombres'' (men).
Biography
Deborah studied dramatic arts in Valladolid, and in her last years decided she did not want to dedicate herself fully to theater. In the late 1990’s, Gretta Garola and Deborah created a drag-cabaret act inspired by
''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert''. After performing the act in El Tío Molonio, a bar in Valladoid, Ombres was encouraged to move to Madrid. Ombres toured as a drag queen her show, ''Mamá, quiero ser drágstica (Mom, I want to be a drag artist!),'' from 2002-2009.
[Apastegui, Paula. “El Radical Cambio de Vida de Deborah Ombres, La Drag Queen Vallisoletana Que Hizo Historia En La Televisión Hace Más de Dos Décadas.” El Español. El Español, November 3, 2023. https://www.elespanol.com/castilla-y-leon/sociedad/20231103/radical-cambio-vida-deborah-ombres-drag-queen-vallisoletana-hizo-historia-television-hace-decadas/806169436_0.html .]
From 2001-2004 Deborah hosted ''MTV Hot'' on
MTV España, becoming the first drag queen host on Spanish television. Deborah had initially auditioned previously for MTV as a male presenter but did not receive the part.
[Carro, David. “Deborah Ombres: ‘Me Volví de Londres Porque Me Ofrecieron Presentar “RuPaul’s Drag Race” En España.’” ''FormulaTV'', October 29, 2020. https://www.formulatv.com/noticias/deborah-ombres-rupauls-drag-race-espana-104378/ .] The warm reception of Deborah resulted in MTV giving Deborah a second show, ''Deborah y el Sexo (Deborah and Sex)'' which aired from 2002-2004. After her contract with MTV expired she signed with
Antena 3 Antena 3 may refer to:
* Antena 3 (Portugal), a national radio channel produced by the Portuguese public broadcasting entity Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
*Antena 3 (Romania), a Romanian television channel owned by Intact Media Group
*Antena 3 (Sp ...
and became a talk show host on ''
La isla de los famosos (The Island of the Famous)''.
In 2005 Deborah also stepped into writing with the book, ''Cuántos sapos hay que besar para encontrar un príncipe? (How many toads do I have to kiss to find a prince?)'', where she opened up about her sexual and romantic life in a self-described “for the first and last time” she would do so.
Also in 2005, she began working at
Telecinco as a reporter and collaborator on the program ''
Caiga Quien Caiga
''Caiga Quien Caiga'' (''Whoever May Fall''), also known as ''CQC'', is an Argentine television show. Under the format of the production company Cuatro Cabezas, ''CQC'' has also been adapted in Spain, France, Chile, Italy, Brazil, Portuga ...
'' which she described as a “bitter” experience.
She left all her television programs to present ''Rompecorazones'' ''(Heartbreaker)'' on the then new
Cuatro, a Spanish TV channel, until 2006 when Cuatro cancelled the show.
[María Yuste. “Qué Fue de Deborah Ombres, La Reportera Drag de ‘Caiga Quien Caiga’ Que Hizo Historia En La Televisión.” Trendencias.com. Trendencias, November 2, 2022. https://www.trendencias.com/general/que-fue-deborah-ombres-primera-presentadora-drag-espana-que-petaba-tele-20-anos-antes-drag-race .]
From 2007 to 2009 Ombres worked for Pink TV, a program on the local Madrid Canal 53. In 2009 Ombres toured a show, ''Tonta ella, tonto él (She's stupid, He's stupid)'', alongside Canco Rodriguez and Cristina Urgel until 2010.
Deborah then moved to
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
, Germany and worked as a dishwasher in a hotel because she didn't know German. Afterwards Deborah moved to London where she worked in a Zara and was sometimes recognized by tourists. 2010 brought Ombres’ second book, ''Conectando con el sol (Connecting with the Sun)'', an autobiography.
Deborah has kept a low profile since 2010, making only minor Pride Day appearances in Madrid from 2011-2016. In 2017 a Barcelona producer seeking to do a Spanish adaption of
RuPaul’s Drag Race titled ''Reinas (Queens)'' encouraged Ombres to return to Spain and film a pilot. Through this arrangement she visited New York as an Ambassador of
World Pride
WorldPride, licensed by InterPride and organized by one of its member organizations, is an event that promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ pride) issues on an international level through parades, festivals and other cult ...
in Madrid, appearing alongside
Manila Luzon,
Bob the Drag Queen, and
La Terremoto de Alcorcón. At the same time, Ombres was part of the program ''Spain calling'', ''Aloha Edition'' on TVE, prior to the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
. After the ''Reinas'' show ultimately stalled, Deborah remained in Spain and now lives quietly in Valladolid.
Filmography
* ''MTV Hot'' (2001-2004)
* ''Deborah y el Sexo'' (2002-2004)
* ''La isla de los famosos'' (2004)
* ''Caiga quien caiga'' (2005)
* ''Rompecorazones'' (2006)
* ''Lalola'' (2008)
* ''Pink TV'' (2007-2009)
* ''Mrs. Carrington'' (2009)
* ''Quiero ser divina'' (2010)
* ''Spain calling, Aloha Edition'' (2017)
Productions
* ¡''Mamá, quiero ser drágstica!'' (2002-2009)
* ''Tonta ella, tonto él'' (2009-2010)
Books
* ''¿A cuántos sapos hay que besar para encontrar un príncipe?'' (Aguilar, 2005).
* ''Conectando con el sol'' (Lamed, 2010).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ombres, Deborah
1975 births
Living people
Actors from Valladolid
Spanish drag queens
Spanish gay actors
Spanish male stage actors
Spanish television presenters
Spanish male television actors
21st-century Spanish LGBTQ people