Maria Elena Fernandez is an award-winning journalist who covered Drag Race since before the world was introduced to the term "halleloo." Fernandez was the first mainstream journalist to be allowed on set to write about the show for the Los Angeles Times after being dazzled by RuPaul and the first season queens at a promotional event before the show's launch. Fernandez covered entertainment for the Los Angeles Times, Vulture, The Daily Beast, Newsweek and NBC News for 15 years.