Milk (born June 23, 1987) is the stage name of Daniel P. Donigan, an American drag performer and fashion model who came to international attention on the
sixth season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
'', and the
third season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars''.
Early life
Donigan was raised by a conservative but supportive family
in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
. He began ice skating at the age of 9 and eventually became a competitive figure skater, until 2009.
Career
After moving to New York City in 2012, Donigan began a full-time career as a drag performer. Donigan first gained attention when he appeared on
season six of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
'' in 2014. Out of 14 contestants, Milk placed ninth overall, losing a lip-sync to
Trinity K. Bonet
Joshua Jamal Jones (born January 31, 1991), better known by the stage name Trinity Kardashian Bonet, is an American drag queen, performer, Impersonator, celebrity impersonator, actor and singer who came to international attention on the RuPaul's D ...
in the sixth episode. On October 20, 2017, Donigan was announced as one of the 10 contestants for ''
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3''. He was eliminated by
Kennedy Davenport
Reuben Asberry Jr., better known by the stage name Kennedy Davenport (born September 9, 1980), is a drag queen, television personality, and dancer from Dallas, Texas, who came to international attention on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag ...
in the third episode, placing 8th. He again placed ninth after
Morgan McMichaels
Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981) is the stage name of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White, best known as a contestant on the second season of the reality television competition ''RuPaul's Drag Race,'' as well as the third seaso ...
returned to the competition.
Outside of ''Drag Race'', Donigan has modeled for
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
's Spring/Summer 2016 Campaign and
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; born 8 April 1941) is an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.
Westwood came to public notice when she m ...
's S/S 2018 campaign. He was featured in
Perry Ellis
Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point" because he int ...
's Fall 2018 collection. In print work, he was on the cover of ''Hello Mr.'' magazine's third issue and featured in the third issue of ''Gayletter'' and in the January 2018 issue of
Gay Times
''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...
. He was featured in a 2014 issue of ''
Next Magazine''. He was announced as the new face of
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's skincare line,
MDNA Skin
American entertainer Madonna has produced five fashion brands, beginning with a clothing range for fashion store H&M in March 2007. She later created an enterprise, MG Icon LLC, a joint venture with her manager Guy Oseary and Iconix Brand Group ...
. In 2017 Milk appeared as Madonna in a video promoting the skincare range, dressing in several of her iconic costumes.
He performed at the Bryant Park Figure-Skating Rink for the Guys On Ice event as charity for the
Ali Forney Center
The Ali Forney Center (AFC), based in New York City, is the largest LGBT community center helping LGBTQ homeless youth in the United States. The AFC both manages and develops transitional housing for its clients. AFC helps approximately 2,000 y ...
.
Music
Donigan formed the group The Dairy Queens in 2016, whose first single, "Milk It", was released on July 2, 2016.
He then released his first solo single, "Touch the Fashion, Change Your Life",
which he performed live on the first episode of ''All Stars 3'' in 2017.
Personal life
Donigan is a former figure skater who qualified to the
2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Junior Ice Dance.
Donigan currently lives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He was in an
open relationship
An open relationship is an intimate relationship that is sexually non-monogamous. The term is distinct from polyamory, in that it generally indicates a relationship where there is a primary emotional and intimate relationship between two partner ...
with
James B. Whiteside, principal dancer with
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...
, for 12 years. In October 2020, Donigan announced on Instagram that they have amicably split.
Filmography
Television
Music Videos
Web
Discography
Singles
Featured singles
See also
*
LGBT culture in New York City
New York City is home to one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most power ...
*
List of LGBT people from New York City
New York City is home to one of the largest LGBT populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' writes that the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most ...
References
External links
*
*
{{RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars
1988 births
Living people
American drag queens
American male models
Gay models
LGBT people from New York (state)
People from New York City
People from Syracuse, New York
RuPaul's Drag Race contestants
Milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...