Milk (drag queen)


Milk is the stage name of Daniel P. Donigan, an American drag performer and former figure skater who came to attention on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, and the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars.

Early life

Donigan was raised in Syracuse, New York. He served as an altar boy at his Catholic church and attended Catholic school. His parents were supportive of his sexuality when he came out as gay. He began ice skating at the age of 9 and eventually became a competitive figure skater, until 2009.

Career

Drag

After moving to New York City in 2012, Donigan began a full-time career as a drag performer. Donigan first gained attention when he appeared on season six of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2014. Out of 14 contestants, Milk placed ninth overall, losing a lip-sync to Trinity K. Bonet in the sixth episode. On October 20, 2017, Donigan was announced as one of the 10 contestants for RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3. He was eliminated by Kennedy Davenport in the third episode, placing 8th. He again placed ninth after Morgan McMichaels returned to the competition.
Outside of Drag Race, Donigan has modeled for Marc Jacobs's Spring/Summer 2016 Campaign and Vivienne Westwood's S/S 2018 campaign. He was featured in Perry Ellis's Fall 2018 collection. In print work, he was featured on the cover of Hello Mr. magazine's third issue and featured in the third issue of Gayletter and in the January 2018 issue of Gay Times. He was featured in a 2014 issue of Next Magazine. He was announced as the new face of Madonna's skincare line, MDNA Skin. In 2017, Milk appeared as Madonna in a video promoting the skincare range, dressing in several of her iconic costumes.

Figure skating

Donigan is a former elite figure skater who qualified to the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Junior Ice Dance. He returned to competition in 2025, winning first place in the Gold Solo Pattern Dance and Gold Solo Free Dance categories at the U.S. Eastern Adult Sectional Championships.
He performed at the Bryant Park Figure-Skating Rink for the Guys On Ice event as charity for the Ali Forney Center.

Music

Donigan formed the group The Dairy Queens in 2016, whose first single, "Milk It", was released on July 2, 2016. He then released his first solo single, "Touch the Fashion, Change Your Life", which he performed live on the first episode of All Stars 3 in 2017.

Personal life

Donigan is Catholic and gay. He was in an open relationship with James B. Whiteside, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, for 12 years. In October 2020, Donigan announced on Instagram that they have amicably split. Donigan currently lives in New York City.

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014RuPaul's Drag Race (season 6)HerselfContestant
2016Skin WarsHerselfEpisode: "Miss Skin Wars"
2018RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 3)HerselfContestant
2019Hey Qween!HerselfGuest
2019Watch What Happens Live with Andy CohenHerselfGuest

Discography

Singles
YearSong
2016"Milk It"
2018"Touch the Fashion"