Drag Race season 12 queen Jan pays heartfelt tribute to grandfather who died from coronavirus
Drag Race season 12 queen Jan revealed that her grandfather passed away from coronavirus. (WOW)
Drag Race star Jan paid an emotional tribute to the grandfather she lost to coronavirus just hours after her elimination aired.
Jan announced that her grandfather Charles A. Mantione, known to her and her family as Grandpa Charlie, passed away on Sunday morning (April 19) due to COVID-19 complications.
“Growing up, my grandpa was the life of the party,” the Drag Race season 12 star wrote.
“Always singing and dancing, and encouraging everyone around him to live life to the fullest!”
Jan said that her grandpa was the one who encouraged her to sing as a child, and would accompany her to every performance.
“Often [he] would escort me there in a limo, to stunt on everyone, because he truly was that iconic and fabulous.”
Drag Race‘s Jan lost grandfather after long Alzheimer’s battle.
The Drag Race star said that his health had declined in recent years due to “complications with Alzheimer’s and dementia”.
“And even though he would not remember a lot of things, he’d always greet me with a smile and a hug and tell me a fun story of his past working with producers and directors,” she continued.
Jan lamented that her grandfather passed away as she stands on the precipice of stardom.
“He would always tell me that he would help make connections for me to achieve my dreams, because he wanted the world to see the joy that I brought him.
He did not get to know Jan as much as I would have liked him to, but one thing is certain: I know he is proud of me.
“All he ever wanted for me was to be happy and pursue my dreams, and look grandpa, I’m doing it.”
The season 12 queen referred to her recent elimination on Drag Race. Jan wrote: “When it rains, it pours, and this certainly has not been my week”.
“But I know my grandpa would want me to keep going and keep entertaining you all, because that is what he loved to see me do more than anything.”
Throughout Drag Race, Jan has been posting a “Jan’s Jukebox” video of her singing that week’s lip-sync song.
She shared a video of her covering “This Is My Night” by Chaka Khan, which she dedicated to her grandfather and the rest of her family.
In March, season nine queen Shea Coulée shared that she’d lost a cousin to coronavirus.
