Willow Pill

Willow Patterson (born January 22, 1995), known by the stage name Willow Pill, is an American drag performer, recording artist, and television personality. She is best known for winning the fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2022, where she became the third contestant with a chronic illness to win a regular season of the show. Willow Pill’s victory was widely seen as a milestone for transgender representation on Drag Race, a show that had previously faced criticism for its treatment of trans contestants. During her time on the show, she came out as trans femme and spoke candidly about her experience living with cystinosis, a rare genetic disorder she has managed since childhood. She uses she/they pronouns and has said her drag is often shaped by themes of illness, mortality, and gender exploration.

Career Early career

While attending Colorado State University, Patterson began performing drag in 2016 at the age of 21 after following RuPaul's Drag Race since the age of 14. Patterson later developed hosting and comedic skills while performing at the now-closed Gladys nightclub in Denver and also performed at Denver's Tracks Nightclub, which Patterson has described as an important venue in her drag career. She won the main challenge on the third episode, earning a cash prize of $5,000. Her Snatch Game performance as Drew Barrymore in episode 10 placed her in the bottom seven, and she participated in the lip-sync tournament on episode eleven. She won the first round against Bosco. The season finale, filmed at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, marked the show’s return to an in-person event following two pandemic-affected seasons. Each finalist performed an original solo number rather than competing in traditional lip-sync battles. and was selected as the top two alongside Lady Camden to face off in a final lip-sync. In their lip-sync battle to Cher's version of ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," Willow Pill defeated Lady Camden and ultimately won the crown. Although the finale was filmed in advance, Willow Pill did not learn the outcome until it aired on April 22, 2022.

Willow Pill’s win came at a time when RuPaul’s Drag Race was undergoing increased scrutiny and change regarding its inclusion of transgender contestants. In earlier seasons, the show used terms now widely considered transphobic, such as “she-mail,” and host RuPaul previously stated he would not allow trans women to compete. Willow Pill’s visibility as a trans femme winner was seen as a milestone in the franchise’s evolving stance on gender identity and inclusion. She also collaborated with Yvie Oddly on the track “Sick B*tch” from Oddly’s debut album Drag Trap, released in 2020.

Willow Pill's artistic style draws on retro glamour, dreams, and vintage photographs of Patterson's mother from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1990s.

Public advocacy Patterson has used a public platform to discuss living with cystinosis, a rare inherited genetic disorder that has affected her since childhood. During the fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2022, Patterson spoke openly about the condition, explaining that she takes more than 20 medications each day to manage it and describing its effects on daily life, gender identity, and drag. In interviews following the season, Patterson said that appearing on the series provided an opportunity to speak openly about chronic illness on a national platform and increase representation for people living with similar conditions. Patterson has said that being open about both experiences could help transgender people and people living with chronic illnesses who rarely see themselves represented in popular media. Patterson has also said that chronic illness shaped not only a performance style but also the decision to discuss personal health on such a large public platform. She and two of her cast-mates, Bosco and Jasmine Kennedie, came out as transgender over the progression of the season, making S14 the season with the most openly trans contestants including Kornbread Jeté and Kerri Colby, who had openly been out prior to the airing of the season.

When Willow Pill publicly came out as transfeminine during Season 14, she shared more details in an Instagram post, where she explained that chronic illness had delayed her gender journey. She described how her medical condition, cystinosis, caused both physical and emotional pain that complicated her relationship with her body. Willow Pill wrote that her kidney transplant at age 15 and the ongoing effects of muscle atrophy, PTSD from medical experiences, and a high medication load made the process of transitioning more complex. Despite these challenges, she began medically transitioning, including undergoing facial feminization surgery in November 2021. RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked 2023 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 15) Herself Guest Web series

Fashion Photo RuView''

Music videos Year Title Artist 2021"Sick Bitch" Yvie Oddly feat. Willow Pill 2022"Taste So Good (The Cann Song)" Vincint, Hayley Kiyoko, MNEK and Kesha (Weedmaps x Cann) "Angle" Willow Pill feat. Kornbread Jeté

Awards and nominations