Taiwanese-American Nymphia Wind triumphs in RuPaul’s Drag Race

Taiwanese-American Nymphia Wind triumphs in RuPaul’s Drag Race

2024-04-25

A Taiwanese-American drag queen has been crowned the victor of Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Nymphia Wind clinched the top spot in the drag race final last weekend. The long-running U.S. reality show is the most celebrated stage for drag queens worldwide. The queen, who is a seamstress by trade, made many of her Taiwan-culture-themed costumes personally. Her victory inspired a note of congratulations from none other than President Tsai Ing-wen, who wrote on Instagram, “Taiwan thanks you for living fearlessly.”

The final of RuPaul’s Drag Race was won by Taiwanese-American contestant, Nymphia Wind, who fell to her knees in shock when the result was announced.

Nymphia Wind
RuPaul’s Drag Race winner
To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and have courage to live your truth. And Taiwan, this is for you!

She competed with drag queens from all over the world over three months to win the biggest accolade of the drag world, storming her way to the final with a succession of outrageous costumes and performances.

This costume is based on the banana, Taiwan’s emblematic fruit. Her bizarre yet cutesy style made big waves with U.S. audiences. For the final, she and two American contestants went head-to-head in a final showdown.

Nymphia changed into a bubble tea-inspired costume, releasing a storm of black “tapioca pearls” up to the ceiling. Her lip synch performances were always surprising. She is the first Taiwanese-American to be crowned on the show, and said she had wanted to break the show’s “Asian curse,” a long dearth of success for Asian contestants.

President Tsai Ing-wen posted on Instagram to congratulate Nymphia, stating, “Taiwan thanks you for living fearlessly.” Twenty-eight-year-old Nymphia Wind, whose real name is Leo Tsao, was born in the U.S. and moved to Taiwan with her family aged 6. She fell in love with dance and sewing as a child, and studied sewing and clothing design in the U.K. She first began performing drag in 2018, and still makes many of her eye-popping costumes herself, by hand.

Nymphia Wind
RuPaul’s Drag Race winner
So I just wanted to come here and really show a rich, rich Asian culture. For me, fashion is, you know, being able to make something pretty. It was just a way for me to communicate to the world. All I said to myself was I’m here to break the Asian curse. I’m not gonna be out.

Nymphia often mentioned Taiwan on Drag Race, and put her love for her country into many costumes, feting bananas, pearl milk tea and traditional Taiwanese opera. Her win is a garland for Taiwanese culture, and an advert for the evolving diversity of Taiwanese society.

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