Joey Gugliemelli, or Sherry Pie, a contestant on the 12th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, has been disqualified from the competition following allegations of catfishing. 

Five young actors have come forward to claim that Gugliemelli asked them to perform acts on camera under a false identity, posing as a casting director. 

One alleged victim – who had known the Drag Race contestant at Cortland State University’s Musical Theatre program – published a Facebook status detailing their weeks-long encounter over email, in which he was led to believe that he was auditioning for a play. This included filming “scenes that felt particularly sexual and awkward”.

Another Facebook post, made by Gugliemelli before the disqualification, reads: “I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain and how horribly embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself.” 

“I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel.”

“I truly apologize to everyone I have hurt with my actions. I also want to say how sorry I am to my sisters of season 12 and honestly the whole network and production company.” 

“All I can do is change the behavior and that starts with me and doing that work.”

On social media, RuPaul’s Drag Race has confirmed that the new season – which is prerecorded – will air as planned, “out of respect for the hard work of the other queens”. Sherry Pie will not appear in the grand finale however, which will be filmed later in spring.