Wendy Guevara, a social media influencer and musician, has become the first trans woman to win a Mexican reality TV series.
The 30-year-old internet personality, who has over five million followers on Instagram and over two million followers on TikTok, stormed her way to first place on reality series La Casa de los Famosos México on Sunday (13 August).
The show, which aired on one of Mexico’s leading TV channels – Las Estrellas – is essentially the Mexican version of Celebrity Big Brother. This is its first season.
Guevara managed to beat off strong competition from the likes of Peruvian actor Nicola Porcella and politician Sergio Mayer to claim the winning title, having won over the public with her charming personality and staggering hotdog guzzling capabilities.
A video of the moment she wins has been posted to her Instagram account, in which Guevara, wearing a red sequinned dress and jewel-studded, arm-length gloves, weeps, cheers and claps.
She also hugs and consoles Porcella, who finished in second place.
Guevara found internet stardom back in 2017 after a video of her and a friend getting lost on a hill went viral. The pair gained the nickname “Las Perdidas” or “The Lost”, with fans obsessing over how the pair howled with laughter in the video despite their treacherous predicament.
Since then, she’s continued to upload videos across her social media channels for her millions of followers, and has also branched out into music – her 2022 single “Putssy” has almost 600,000 streams on Spotify and more than one million views on YouTube.
At a time where trans people are increasingly under attack from politicians across the globe, LGBTQ+ people are taking Guevara’s success on the reality show as a big win for the queer community.
“The most beloved person in Mexico is a trans woman. You just changed millions of ignorant mentalities! We love you Wendy,” wrote one fan.
“Yesterday the trans [community] were lost. Today they are visible, thanks to you,” another posted.
“This is insane,” shared a third gobsmacked fan. “Watching her go from Las Perdidas to being one of, if not, the biggest trans celebrity in Mexico … “
A fourth wrote: “How I enjoyed this moment. One of the most deserved victories in the history of international reality shows.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race trans icon Gia Gunn also shared her congratulations.
Wendy Guevara’s win is also a big moment for the queer community in Mexico, considering the country’s conflicted record on LGBTQ+ rights and discrimination.
While Mexico allows its citizens to own a passport with a non-binary gender marker and same-sex marriage has recently become legal in all states, members of the LGBTQ+ community still face troubling levels of violence.
As a TV series, Big Brother is somewhat revolutionary when it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusion. In 2004, Nadia Almada became the first and only trans winner of Big Brother UK, in a moment that is still seen as groundbreaking for trans visibility in Britain today.
In 2018, RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist Courtney Act became the first drag performer to win the show.
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