Cynthia Lee Fontaine
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cynthia Lee Fontaine is the stage name of Carlos Díaz Hernández, a Puerto Rican
drag performer Drag is a performance of exaggerated femininity, masculinity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. Drag usually involves cross-dressing. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininely and a drag ...
and reality television personality from
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, best known for competing on the
eighth Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...
and ninth seasons of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...
'', as well as the tenth season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...
''. She won the title of Miss Congeniality on season 8.


Early life and education

Hernández was born in
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
as the oldest child of Maria Hernandez. He has a degree in
clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...
and worked in the mental health field for six years before starting drag. Hernández began doing drag in Puerto Rico in 2006, and moved to
Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...
in 2008, where he started performing at Oil Can Harry's. He moved to
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
in 2011 and continued performing.


Career

Cynthia Lee Fontaine competed on the eighth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which premiered on March 7, 2016. During the show, she frequently referred to her "cucu", meaning buttocks, which became a part of the show's slang. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' said "cucu" has evolved "into the queer pop cultural canon". Cynthia Lee Fontaine was the third queen eliminated, garnering a 10th-place finish. Even though she was only on the show for three episodes, She was voted Miss Congeniality by the fans, giving her the distinction of being voted Miss Congeniality while having spent the least amount of time on the show compared to other award recipients. Cynthia Lee Fontaine was invited back for ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season 9 as the surprise 14th queen. The show premiered on March 24, 2017. In episode six, She portrayed
Sofia Vergara Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river and has many mineral springs, such as the ...
for
Snatch Game Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the ''Drag Race'' television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series. Since the second season of the original American ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' series in 2010, the challenge ha ...
, an impersonation that was not received well by the judges. ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' wrote "Cynthia Lee Fontaine’s Sofia Vergara is the big disaster of this "Snatch Game," and even without the largely incomprehensible dialogue, it's a failure on a visual level." Cynthia Lee Fontaine ended up securing once again the 10th-place finish, being sent home in a lipsync challenge against
Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...
. In an interview with ''Vulture'', Cynthia Lee Fontaine said: The ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
'', lamenting her short run on the show in season 8, stated Cynthia Lee Fontaine was "like a bilingual
Tammie Brown Tammie Brown is the stage name of Keith Glen Schubert (born September 15, 1980), an American drag queen, drag performer, reality television personality, and recording artist. Brown was a fixture in the Southern California drag scene before appear ...
", referencing another queen from
season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...
of the show. Denver Pride called her "a fixture of the Austin drag scene". Cynthia Lee Fontaine is a regular guest at the RuPaul's Drag Cons. She appeared at
RuPaul's DragCon LA RuPaul's DragCon LA is an annual Trade fair, expo of Drag (clothing), drag culture held in Los Angeles billed as a "convention that celebrates 'the art of drag, queer culture and self-expression for all'", which debuted in 2015. Its sister even ...
2016 and 2017, and at
RuPaul's DragCon NYC RuPaul's DragCon NYC is an annual fan convention and expo of drag culture held in New York City, which debuted in September 2017. It is based on the successful RuPaul's DragCon LA which was launched in Los Angeles in 2015 billed as a “conventi ...
in 2017 and 2019. In November 2017, Cynthia Lee Fontaine participated in Queens United/Reinas Unidas, a benefit show organized by Phi Phi O'Hara in support of Puerto Rico following
Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...
. The show raised over $80,000. Cynthia Lee Fontaine stated, "Puerto Rico, you are part of our heart in the United States of America. I'm Puerto Rican. I love you from the bottom of my heart, and you've got our support." In September 2018, Cynthia Lee Fontaine became the third drag queen ever hosted at
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...
in Brunswick, Maine. Previous drag queens performed there in 2012 and 2015. The event, hosted by the Latin American Student Organization, included a performance and interview, which "touched on themes of family, health and getting out of one's comfort zone." On her
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel, Cynthia Lee Fontaine has two shows: ''CuCu Confessions'' and ''Memoirs of My CuCu''. She also headlines a one-woman show called ''Cynthia Lee Fontaine: More Intimate CuCu Confessions'', which she performs around the United States. Cynthia Lee Fontaine released her first single "Pegajosa" in November 2018. Writing for World of Wonder, James St. James called the song "fabulous" and the accompanying music video "ultra-fabuloso". On April 23, 2025, Cynthia Lee Fontaine was announced as one of eighteen former ''Drag Race'' contestants participating in the tenth season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...
''.


Personal life and recognition

Hernández was diagnosed with
stage 1 Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...
liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
in 2015, two weeks after filming the third episode of the eighth season of ''Drag Race''. He stated during the filming of the show he lost 47 pounds. After four rounds of
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
, he went into remission. He also revealed on the show that he almost performed at Pulse nightclub the night of the Orlando shooting in 2016. He stated, "we never expect that a tragedy like this would happen in our community. We thought we'd finally built a safe space." The City of Austin was set to proclaim March 26, 2020, as Cynthia Lee Fontaine Day, but had to postpone because of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Texas The COVID-19 pandemic in Texas is a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of Texas confirmed its ...
.


Filmography


Television


Music videos


Web series


Discography


Singles


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cynthia Lee Fontaine 1981 births Living people 20th-century Puerto Rican LGBTQ people 21st-century Puerto Rican LGBTQ people Hispanic and Latino American drag queens American drag queens LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people LGBTQ people from Texas People from Austin, Texas, by occupation People from Killeen, Texas Entertainers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican drag queens RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Drag performers from Texas