In the history of RuPaul’s Drag Race, there are many, many moments that have been described as major. Nymphia Wind’s win, which concluded the latest season of the American reality competition series centred on drag queens, is something even bigger.
That moment immortalised Wind, who is of Taiwanese descent, as the first East Asian drag queen to be crowned on the show. It also made her the second Asian winner ever, more than a decade after the Dutch-Indonesian drag star Raja Gemini won in 2009. All of this was enough to attract the attention of the Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen, who wrote on Instagram, “Congratulations to you, Nymphia Wind, for being so accomplished in the difficult art form of drag, and for being the first Taiwanese to take the stage and win on RuPaul’s Drag Race … Taiwan thanks you for living fearlessly.”
Congratulations to you, Nymphia Wind @66wind99, for being so accomplished in the difficult art form of drag, and for being the first Taiwanese to take the stage and win on @RuPaulsDragRace.
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) April 20, 2024
Right after being crowned queen, you said “Taiwan, this is for you.”
Taiwan thanks you… https://t.co/hrbG7Vnovd
Indeed, Nymphia Wind has been living fearlessly for a while now. The drag persona of Leo Tsao emerged in 2018, but it was years in the making. Tsao was born in Los Angeles in 1995, and grew up in Hong Kong and Taipei. While described by his mother as a shy child, Tsao revealed a penchant for performance very early on. In middle school and high school, he would stage dance performances of SNSD songs with other students, cross-dressing as a member of the K-pop girl group.
When Tsao moved to London to pursue his fashion design studies, he was exposed to the city’s vibrant nightlife and drag scene, and he began dressing up and experimenting with make-up. He returned to Taiwan after his graduation, and it was there that Nymphia Wind came to life.
“I had a few other drag names that shall not be named,” says Wind, laughing. “But Nymphia Wind really came into fruition when I was back in Taiwan, during my army service I was checking out the drag scene in Taiwan. Back then, there were one or two drag shows; there weren’t really a lot. I just felt like I really wanted to start performing as a drag queen, so I started to reach out to people and enter drag competitions to get my name out there.”
Wind soon made her mark on Taipei’s nightlife with her quick wit, fiery charisma, and extraordinarily intricate costumes, which often feature elements of East Asian culture. Those elaborate outfits, which Wind creates a way to reconnect with her heritage, set her apart from other drag queens, who tend to take inspiration from Hollywood and Western pop culture.
Nymphia Wind stood out even more when, in 2020, she introduced her signature colour: yellow. She explains that by wearing the colour, she hopes to represent and raise awareness of Asian drag performers. (Or “spread yellow fever”, as she says in her memorable Drag Race introduction.) When her bright, bold outfits prompted comparisons to the banana, Wind began working the fruit into her drag looks as well.
Wind amassed a large following of Banana Believers (as her fans are called) in Taiwan. She featured in documentaries that chronicled her journey to becoming a drag queen—one of them, Leo & Nymphia, was screened in film festivals around the world and nominated at The Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan’s answer to the Emmys. In 2022, Wind was ready to take her drag career to even greater heights. She moved to New York, and the rest, as we know, is history.
“Before I auditioned for [Drag Race], I listed out my goals for the year on a piece of paper,” recalls Wind. “And I wrote that I was going to get on season 16 of Drag Race and win. I just put it out there, like, let life take me where it needs to take me.”
Indeed, Wind is now going places. In May, shortly after her Drag Race win, she performed a sold-out drag show in Singapore, which was organised by Unleash and held at Tuckshop, Singapore’s first drag bar. This September, Wind will step into a bigger spotlight at the Paris Olympics, where she will represent her home country, Taiwan. She will be performing at the Cultural Olympiad—an arts and cultural programme hosted at the Olympics—together with the House of Wind, her close-knit community of Taiwanese drag queens.
“We’re going to bring Taiwan to the stage, and we’re going to bring it in a way that’s infused with drag,” says Wind. “Just expect a lot of fun.”
What was your favourite part of competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race?
Nymphia Wind (NW): The whole thing. I mean, it was very, very challenging many times, and you’re always in constant fear of going home because it’s your dream; you don’t want to go home too early. You want to be able to fight to the very last. But also, you never know when you’re gonna go home, so you might as well have fun every step of the way. I saw this as an opportunity of a lifetime. I was just trying to savour every moment.
Has it sunk in that you’re the first East Asian winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race?
NW: I think it has fully sunk because I’m doing crazy things [like performing in Singapore] after winning. I’ve always dreamed about this moment. To be able to achieve that is kind of gaggy and sickening. Anything is possible! Just focus on what you love and one day you’ll get there.
How do you think you’ve evolved as a drag queen?
NW: I guess after [starring in RuPaul’s Drag Race], I have become more professional. It’s just like, get the makeup on. Because you’re doing it so much, you don’t want to dwell on it. I [tend to do] a bit of my make-up and then I go and procrastinate. Now I just focus and get it done. Because you’re always travelling, you have to be more disciplined to have more time for rest.
What do you love the most about Taiwan?
NW: It feels like home. You know, like when you arrive in some place and the feeling is just right. I think there’s something about the land in Taiwan that I’m magnetically attuned to and connected with. To me, Taiwan is such a beautiful place and it has so much to offer. Obviously, with any place, there are always the not-so-perfect parts. But you have to see it as a whole and accept the flaws, and know that change is possible.
You’re leading that change, in a way. Last year, you staged a drag show at the Fuyou Temple in Taiwan.
NW: I never really thought about how I want to change the world, per se. But I’m just really passionate about what I do; everything I do is something that I’m excited to do. I guess in that way it inspires people to make a change. I think with that temple fair, what really stood out to me was that there were three generations of people there. It was a fusion of all ages. And I think that’s really beautiful. That’s how you really enact change, when [different people] can appreciate something together. You’re not just in your comfortable bubble. You go beyond what you know. I think that’s really important, and educating people that drag queens are here to have fun and not harm you.
How did you react to the Taiwanese president congratulating you?
NW: [I found out] after doing a show in Brooklyn called the Banana Fever Ball. We were eating pho. Then I went to the bathroom. I was on my phone and I think someone messaged me about it. I instantly screamed. I was just really gagged. Never in a thousand years would I have thought that the president of Taiwan would notice [my win], much less comment on it. It’s definitely a moment to remember on my deathbed.
What can we expect from your upcoming performance at the Olympics?
NW: My goal for this performance is to redefine the Taiwanese flag and explore what this new flag means to me, the House of Wind, and a new generation of Taiwanese people.
Photography JAYA KHIDIR
Art Direction MARISA XIN
Photography assistant NG KAI MING
Special thanks UNLEASH; TUCKSHOP