\u201cWe are all mourning the loss of an incredible icon, friend, and our beloved sister. Thank you for the laughs, the cackles, and the magic you brought into our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will cherish every second of our 30-year friendship, and I\u2019m so grateful that I was a part of your chosen family. You will be forever loved and deeply missed. I love you old girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Universal Sydney also posted a statement, saying: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news of our beloved Maxi Shield\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all my years in this community, there has never been a time I can remember when Maxi wasn\u2019t an iconic presence (and she\u2019d absolutely smack you for reminding her of that). Maxi worked across every queer venue in Sydney, touching hearts not only across the country but around the world through her appearance on Drag Race Down Under.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Mardi Gras will feel different. It will be more solemn, as so many of us gather carrying the space left by her smile, her quick wit, and her remarkable spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n Just five months ago during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Maxi shared that she’d suffered from a “very scary” health issue.<\/p>\n She was taken to hospital after an\u00a0\u201cissue with a swollen gland\u201d pushing on blood vessels in her throat.<\/p>\n She later confirmed that tests later revealed \u201cthis little swollen thing on the side of my throat is cancer\u201d with a \u201c70-80 per cent treatment rate.\u201d<\/p>\n She had since been undergoing chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumour, with her latest treatment starting in January.<\/p>\n For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates \u2013 like\u00a0<\/i>Reality Shrine<\/a><\/i>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/a><\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" She was just 51<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249734183,"featured_media":46694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1358],"tags":[1429],"class_list":["post-46688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-rupaul-s-drag-race"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/02\/23\/drag-race-star-maxi-shield-has-passed-away-just-five-months-after-cancer-diagnosis\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Drag Race star Maxi Shield has passed away just five months after cancer diagnosis","url":"http:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/02\/23\/drag-race-star-maxi-shield-has-passed-away-just-five-months-after-cancer-diagnosis\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/02\/23\/drag-race-star-maxi-shield-has-passed-away-just-five-months-after-cancer-diagnosis\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.realitytvshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ellie-New-Featured-Images-2026-02-23T093706.284-150x150.png","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.realitytvshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ellie-New-Featured-Images-2026-02-23T093706.284.png"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ellie Ring"}],"creator":["Ellie Ring"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reality Shrine","logo":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cropped-mX3_1x3z.png"},"keywords":["rupaul's drag race"],"dateCreated":"2026-02-23T09:39:22Z","datePublished":"2026-02-23T09:39:22Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T09:39:22Z"},"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.realitytvshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ellie-New-Featured-Images-2026-02-23T093809.663.png\")
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