Delta Work is the stage name of Gabriel A. Villarreal, a Mexican-American drag performer and stylist, best known for competing on the third season of the reality competition television series ''

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 ...

''. Villarreal received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-Camera Series or Special at the 70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards (2018) for his work as a personal hairstylist for ''Drag Race''. She currently co-hosts the podcast ''Very That'', alongside

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Career

Villarreal's drag mother is

Miss Coco Peru Miss Coco Peru (born August 27, 1965) is the drag persona of American actor, comedian and drag performer Clinton Leupp, known for her role in the 1999 independent film ''Trick'' and for her series of live theater performances. Recognizable by he ...

; they met in Los Angeles, early in Delta Work's drag career. He started drag on Halloween at age 22. Her drag name originates from when she attended a drag show and the performing group of queens, who were making a spoof of

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

, needed a "bigger woman" to play the role of

Delta Burke Delta Ramona Leah Burke (born July 30, 1956) is an American actress, producer, and author. From 1986 to 1991, she starred as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom ''Designing Women'', for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstan ...

's character Suzanne Sugarbaker. After her performance, one queen commented that "you are not Delta Burke, you are Delta Work!"

''Drag Race''

Work was selected among thirteen contestants for the third season of ''

'', which was announced on January 24, 2011. During the season, she impersonated

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

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 ...

" episode, where contestants were required to imitate a chosen celebrity.

Bowen Yang Bowen Yang ( zh, link=no, 楊伯文; born November 6, 1990) is an Australian-born American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer based in New York City. He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, '' Las Culturistas,'' with Matt Rogers. Since Se ...

wrote "Delta barely made an attempt at all... Points for the wink at

Bob Mackie Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie (born March 24, 1939) is an American fashion designer and costumier, best known for his dressing of entertainment icons such as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Diahann Carroll, Carol Channing, Cher, Doris Day, Marle ...

with her look, but otherwise Delta just waded around in her nothing-doing. Snap out of it!" She placed seventh overall, losing a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

performance to

Manila Luzon Karl Philip Michael Westerberg, better known by the stage name Manila Luzon (born August 10, 1981), is an American drag queen, recording artist, comedian and reality television personality. Luzon came to international attention as a contestant on ...

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

's "

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and later designated ...

". '' Out'' called the battle "certainly one of the most famous lip syncs" of the show. Outside of season three, she was an audience member for the season five and season six reunions, and was a guest with other ''Drag Race'' alumni for the first challenge of season ten. Villarreal became

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

's personal wig stylist for her judging panel attire beginning with the second episode of the ninth season, with season two alumnus

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

styling her makeup. Work appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season eleven.

Post ''Drag Race''

Villarreal appeared on a 2011 episode of E!'s ''

The Soup ''The Soup'' is an American television series that aired weekly on E! from July 1, 2004, until December 18, 2015 as a revamped version of ''Talk Soup'' that focused on recaps of various popular culture and television moments of the week. The ...

'' with RuPaul,

, and

Shangela Chantize Darius Jeremy Pierce, better known as Shangela Laquifa Wadley or mononymously as Shangela (born November 22, 1980), is an American drag queen, reality television personality and actor best known for competing on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. S ...

. She makes recurring appearances on WoWPresent's internet show ''Fashion Photo Ruview'', filling in for Raja or Raven to critique looks from ''Drag Race'' alumni, with his first appearance on November 19, 2014. She also makes regular appearances on the web show ''The Pit Stop'', which reviews the episodes of ''Drag Race''. She was on its debut episode on August 27, 2016. Work appeared on the cover of ''Skorch Magazine'' in 2013. In August 2015, she headlined Palouse Pride in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Universit ...

. On August 6, 2016, she was invited on stage by

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

in a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

concert, while in full drag as an Adele impersonator. They took a selfie, which quickly went viral. Villarreal received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-Camera Series or Special at the 70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards (2018) for her work. She portrayed

in the music video for

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

's "

You Need to Calm Down "You Need to Calm Down" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on June 14, 2019, as the second single from her seventh studio album, ''Lover'' (2019). The fourteenth track on the album, Swift wrote and prod ...

" (June 2019). In September 2020 Work began co-hosting the ongoing conversational podcast ''Very That'' on the Forever Dog and Moguls of Media networks, alongside her ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season three castmate

, where the duo discuss recent news and answer questions from fans. The podcast's executive producers include fellow ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' alumni

Alaska Thunderfuck Justin Andrew Honard (born March 6, 1985) is an American drag queen and recording artist known by the stage name Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, primarily known mononymously as Alaska, from Erie, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the runner-up on th ...

and

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of '' ...

Music

Delta Work released her debut single, "The Walkin' Blues (Walk Right In, Walk Right Out)", on May 12, 2015. She also was part of the group The Heathers, with Manila Luzon, Raja, and Carmen Carrera. The group released their debut single "Lady Marmalade" on June 6, 2014.

Personal life

Villarreal lives in

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated ...

, as of 2011.

Filmography

Television

Music videos

Web series

Podcasts

Discography

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Work, Delta Living people American drag queens American hairdressers Primetime Emmy Award winners

Delta Work Delta Work is the stage name of Gabriel A. Villarreal, a Mexican-American drag performer and stylist, best known for competing on the third season of the reality competition television series '' RuPaul's Drag Race''. Villarreal received the ...

Hispanic and Latino American drag queens 1976 births