Mistress Isabelle Brooks (real first name Israel; born July 14, 1998) is an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

who competed on the fifteenth season of the television show ''

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 ...

''. Born and raised in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, she started doing drag as a teenager and later performed at

Hamburger Mary's Hamburger Mary's Bar & Grille is a Drag_(clothing), drag-themed hamburger, burger restaurant chain that started in San Francisco, California, in 1972. The eateries are often in Gay village, gayborhoods and are intended to represent stereotypical ga ...

JR's Bar and Grill JR's Bar and Grill is a gay bar in Neartown,Neartown Super N ...

, and

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prior to competing on ''Drag Race''. In 2023, Mistress Isabelle Brooks was added to the lineup of the touring drag show

Werq the World The Werq the World tour is an ongoing tour featuring drag queens from ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The tour, created by Brandon Voss and some input by Shangela, is produced by Voss Events in collaboration with VH1 and World of Wonder. It is known for ...

Early life

Mistress Isabelle Brooks was born and raised in

. She discovered drag at around age 14, when she saw

GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...

s referencing the fourth season of ''

'' on social-media platform

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and friends recommended the show. She started doing drag at age 16, and she concurrently attended high school and

cosmetology Cosmetology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyle, hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/p ...

school.

Career

By the time she was 18 years old, Mistress Isabelle Brooks was performing in drag professionally. In Houston, she was an original cast member at the drag-themed restaurant chain

, and has regularly performed at

JR's Bar and Grill JR's Bar and Grill is a gay bar in Neartown,Neartown Super N ...

, where she hosted weekly ''Drag Race'' viewing parties, and the nightclub

. In December 2019, Mistress Isabelle Brooks broke her ankle and due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, was forced to rely on wig-styling for income. She has said: "I started hustling and pushing out wigs to queens all over the world. It truly feels like overnight my business skyrocketed, and weirdly enough, one of the darkest moments in my life brought me to exactly where I was supposed to be."

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

Mistress Isabelle Brooks competed on the fifteenth season of ''Drag Race'', winning one challenge and placing in the top four alongside Anetra,

Luxx Noir London Luxx Noir London (born September 5, 1999) is an American drag performer, singer and songwriter most known for competing on the fifteenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race.'' Early life and education Luxx Noir London was raised in East Orange, N ...

, and

Sasha Colby Sasha Kekauoha (born July 26, 1985), known professionally as Sasha Colby, is an American drag performer and beauty pageant competitor. She is slated to compete on the upcoming fifteenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. She is the "drag mother" of ...

. She was the first contestant on the series to represent Houston. According to Mistress Isabelle Brooks, she spent approximately $100,000 on her looks for ''Drag Race'', including $40,000 for the final episode. Many of her looks were created by Houston designers Yahaira DeHill and Gin Martini. For the

Snatch Game Snatch Game is a challenge on the ''Drag Race'' reality competition television franchise. Beginning with the second season of the original American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', the challenge has taken place on every season since. It has also o ...

challenge, Mistress Isabelle Brooks impersonated comedian

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' ...

; Joey Nolfi of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' said her character "seemingly unintentionally" and "self-admittedly devolved into"

Abby Lee Miller Abigale Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American television personality who founded the Abby Lee Dance Company, which appeared on the reality television series ''Dance Moms'' for eight seasons. On June 27, 2016, Miller pleaded guilty ...

. Shafaq Patel of ''

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'' complimented Mistress Isabelle Brooks's performance of "Big Girl!" and said she "served Southern sass and her looks were stunning". Sam Byrd of '' OutSmart'' called her a "plus-sized diva with a plus-sized attitude to match" who is "not afraid of a little blush and makeup to go with that head-boss stature". Pride.com's Bernardo Sim called Mistress Isabelle Brooks "one of the funniest" contestants of the season and said she "has been an absolute standout in the cast". He wrote, "Fans have been living for her old-school attitude, impeccable makeup skills and outfits, and undeniable star power." According to Jordan Robledo 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 ...

'', Mistress Isabelle Brooks was "inundated with hateful messages targeting her appearance and interactions with her fellow contestants" as the show aired. Her

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account was suspended multiple times. Charlie Duncan of ''

PinkNews ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in 2005. It closely follows political progress on LGBT rights aro ...

'' said Mistress Isabelle Brooks "delivered a blistering takedown to online trolls spreading anti-drag hate". The website's Marcus Wratten described her as the "shadiest" contestant of season 15. In 2023, Mistress Isabelle Brooks was added to the lineup of drag-show tour

's shows in North America.

Personal life

Mistress Isabelle Brooks is Mexican American. She uses the pronouns "he/him/his" out of drag and "she/her/hers" in drag. Mistress Isabelle Brooks has described her drag as "big, beautiful and glamorous", and as "over-the-top traditional drag with a modern twist". She also called herself the "heavyweight champ" of season 15. Mistress Isabelle Brooks "adopted" fellow contestants Sugar and Spice as her "drag daughters".

Discography

As a featured artist

Filmography

Television

Web series

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mistress Isabelle Brooks 1998 births Living people American drag queens American people of Mexican descent Entertainers from Houston Hispanic and Latino American drag queens Mistress Isabelle Brooks