‘RuPaul's Drag Race': Onya Nurve and Jewels Sparkles dish their ‘ride of a lifetime,' stolen jokes, and turning drag ‘inside out'
"I'm super grateful for the love that I've been getting from the community and from everyone in the world," Onya Nurve tells Gold Derby's Reality Derby. Onya won Season 17 of MTV's RuPaul's Drag Race in April, while Jewels Sparkles placed as the runner-up. "I'm learning every day how much it's changing my life," says the latest champion.
Jewels has been "so blessed and so lucky for all of the opportunities that have come from the show." She reveals, "The first episode came out and I feel like our lives changed overnight." Since then, their "ride of a lifetime" has included "getting to travel the world, meeting fans from everywhere, performing in different cities ... I'm pinching myself every day. This is genuinely the coolest thing ever."
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Heading into the grand finale, Onya "didn't know" that she'd be claiming the crown. "I was up there with entertainers that were just as talented as me," referring to Jewels, Lexi Love, and Sam Star. "The only thing that was going through my brain — because there was so much going on and so little time to do anything — was me telling myself, 'Onya, you just have to do your best and try to have some fun.'"
Jewels' mindset was, "We did the work, we did the show, and now we're going to go in and do what we can and have fun. I went in there with no expectations. Whatever happens is going to happen, and whatever's meant for me is going to be meant for me."
Onya asks, "What's the saying? Prepare for the worst?"
"And expect the best," Jewels finishes. "Wait!"
"The other way around!" Onya laughs. "But something like that."
Jewels expected to be "the first one to go home," she confesses. "So, any day that you get to survive after that, that was my mentality on the show, to be honest." She adds, "We got time between filming and airing to watch ourselves before we went back for the finale. Not every season is like that, so we were really lucky to be able to learn from watching ourselves on TV," which she likens to an "out-of-body experience."
As a relatively new drag queen, Onya felt "underestimated" heading into the Werk Room for the first time. "I felt like I had to prove myself, but I really didn't have to. I think that was all in my own head. We were always on the same playing field. There's the competition aspect of the game, and then the social aspect of the game, and I feel like the social aspect of the game is where I personally had the most work to do."
The makeover challenge really struck an emotional chord with viewers, particularly as both of their fathers appeared on the show to support their children. "Me and my dad are really close," says Jewels, who cherished "getting to share that moment" with him. "For a straight Latino man to go and support his son in that way? It's the greatest gift ever."for MTV
Onya agrees it was an "amazing" experience to makeover her father, proclaiming, "My dad has always been a huge supporter of my drag. But like Jewels said, I didn't know it was to the point where he would get on the show with me and do drag. I thought my mom, or at least some woman in my life, was going to come in. So, when my dad came in, there was an extra level of, 'Oh sh--!' Not only do I have to put my dad in drag, but he's wearing a beard, and he has to shave."
Both contestants performed well in the "Snatch Game" challenge, with Onya portraying Eddie Murphy and Jewels taking on Miss Big Feet. "I've been watching movies that [Murphy] has been doing for a long time, like The Nutty Professor and Shrek," Onya explains. "So, I really had a good idea of his humor, style, and cadence. But I've also played Donkey in Shrek in community theaters ... so I just rolled with it and had a lot of fun."
Jewels loved the idea of "redeeming" Miss Big Feet since there'd only been "this one picture where she's naked, walking in the woods." So, she decided to "put makeup and eyelashes on, and make her really pretty, because that's what you would want to do if the only thing people know about you is a naked picture of you in the woods. Like, that's so disgusting."
Onya's hardest moment on the program was the "sewing challenges — we had three of them, which is a lot." And Jewels' biggest obstacle was when the competition narrowed down to the Top 5, and everyone around her was a "strong competitor," which caused her to "self-sabotage."
Surprisingly, Jewels doesn't harbor any ill will toward Arrietty for stealing her jokes in the roast challenge, because, "Her roast was one of the worst roasts ever on that show, and I want to take no credit for that." She turns to the camera and smiles, "Gotcha, bitch!"
SEE'We need to be gayer than ever before': 'RuPaul's Drag Race' queens and producers get political at FYC pool party
They are both "so proud" of Lydia "Butthole" Kollins representing their season on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. "Lydia left on such a high note," Onya divulges. "The audience and the room were just getting a chance to see exactly who she was. And we all saw RuPaul give her that twinkle in her eye when she did the 'Boogie Wonderland' [lip sync]. So, I knew once Lydia was eliminated, that wasn't the last time we were going to see her. Did we think we would see her that soon? No! But it gagged me."
With the Emmy Awards coming up, do they think Season 17 deserves to win the trophy for Best Competition Program? "We will win," Jewels predicts. "This season has everything. We have amazing drag. There's so much heart, so much friendship, so many real stories."
Onya chimes in, "Our season in particular let the audience see the inside of who we are as people, on top of the glamorous drag that we wear. We turned our drag inside out for the audience to see that we are real, emotional, messy, and sometimes very troubled human beings under all this drag. I thought it was a kick-ass season."
Also in our exclusive video interview, the contestants take us behind the scenes of the "Squirrel Games" challenge, they delve into the special "love" they share for all of their sisters, and they reveal the best piece of advice that RuPaul Charles gave them while filming. RuPaul's Drag Race is eligible at the 2025 Emmys.
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