Shannel
Bryan Watkins, known by his stage name Shannel, is an American drag queen and television personality, best known for competing on the first season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" and later the first season of "". He placed in the top four on both seasons. Early life. Watkins was born on July 3, 1979, in Orange County, California. He started doing drag at fifteen years old when he entered a Halloween drag contest and won. He worked as a beauty advisor for the cosmetics company Chanel. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2000. Section::::"RuPaul's Drag Race". Shannel was  announced as one of nine contestants for the first season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" (2009). In the third episode, he was in the bottom two with fellow competitor Akashia, and won a lip sync against him to "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston. He famously did the first "wig reveal" on the show during the lip sync. He was later eliminated in the sixth episode after losing a lip sync to "Shackles (Praise You)" by Mary Mary against Rebecca Glasscock. Shannel was announced as being among twelve returning contestants for the first season of "RuPaul's Drag  Race: All Stars" in 2012. Due to the team twist for the season, Shannel teamed with eventual winner Chad Michaels as the team Shad. They won the third, fourth and fifth episode challenges, until Shannel was eliminated in joint third/fourth place with Jujubee. Shannel also was a drag professor for three seasons of the spin-off show "RuPaul's Drag U" in 2010 to 2012. He appeared as a guest star on the first episode of "Drag Race" eighth season. He appeared with his fellow season one cast on the "Drag Race" season ten finale, lip syncing next to  Mayhem Miller. Shannel was credited as a Creative Consultant for the premiere episode of "RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race". He also made an appearance making over celebrity Nico Tortorella, though it was ultimately cut from the episode. Career. Outside of "Drag Race", Shannel appeared in an episode of "The Arrangement" in 2010. He appeared in the music video for Lady Gaga's "Applause" with Raven, Morgan McMichaels, Shangela Laquifa Wadley and Detox. He was also in the video for Xelle's ""Queen"" in 2012. He was part of Frank Marino's "Divas Las Vegas" show in 2017. In September  2019, at RuPaul’s DragCon NYC, Shannel was named as one of a rotating cast of a dozen "Drag Race" queens in "RuPaul's Drag Race Live!", a Las Vegas show residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas.