The stunning Denali (also known as Denali Foxx) is the dance and ice queen who turned heads on Season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The multi-talented drag performer is a double gold medalist in the U.S. Figure Skating moves and freestyle category who has skated all over the world with the like of Royal Caribbean Productions, SeaWorld, and Cirque du Soleil, and she has choreographed for Team USA figure skaters including 2021 US National Silver Medallists Amber Glenn, Mariah Bell, and the partnership of Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc. Not only was Denali the first ever contestant to enter the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” workroom in ice skates and lip sync wearing them too, but she was also the first queen from Alaska. The fan-favourite didn’t win the crown but her popularity has continued to soar ever since appearing on the show, and her performance on ice to When I grow Up by The Pussycat Dolls has racked up nearly 2 million views on YouTube.
Born Cordero Matthew Zuckerman in Fairbanks, Alaska, the future RuGirl – who is also a third-degree black belt in karate – was a gifted ice skater who vied for a place on the U.S. figure skating team at the age of 15. Denali had only been doing drag for several years when she became one of the darlings of her season on Drag Race, and the ice queen proved that you don’t have to be a drag veteran to make it onto drag’s biggest stage.