Willow Pill
Willow Patterson, born William Patterson, 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. She is the drag sister of Yvie Oddly, who was the winner of season 11 of "Drag Race", making them the first drag sisters to both win regular seasons of the series. Early life. Patterson was raised in Denver, Colorado and attended Colorado State University. Career. 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." 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. 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 price of  $5,000. On episode seven, her Snatch Game performance placed her in the bottom seven, and had to participate in a lip-sync tournament on episode eight. She won the first round against Bosco. She placed in the bottom two a second time during episode 13, 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. On the April 22, 2022, season finale, Willow Pill was declared the winner of "RuPaul ’s Drag Race" Season 14, earning a cash prize of $150,000, the highest amount awarded to date in a regular season so far. Willow Pill is also the first transgender contestant to win a regular season of the U.S. series and the fourth openly transgender contestant to win a season of the Drag Race franchise at the time of their crowning. Personal life. Patterson has had cystinosis her whole life and identifies as trans femme, as one of the five transgender contestants of Season 14. 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 she/they pronouns.