‘Whatcha Packin’ for ‘Drag Race 16’ Top 3: Nymphia Wind peels back the banana obsession with Michelle Visage

John Benutty
·3 min read
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Each week on “Whatcha Packin’,” Michelle Visage interviews the recently eliminated queen, but for the three finalists of season 16 she’s sitting down to chat ahead of the April 19 “Grand Finale.” Nymphia Wind describes her origins in drag and the birth of her obsession with yellow that created the fashion icon we saw on the runway. Watch the full episode above via the official RuPaul’s Drag Race channel on YouTube.

In her interview with Michelle, Nymphia finally gets a chance to open up about where her obsession with the color yellow and bananas came from. She explains that she wore a yellow outfit once in 2020, fell in love with it, and then eventually paired the color with the “phallic” and “camp” image of bananas. She also tells Michelle how she took inspiration from her mom who moved to Italy to study Italian when deciding to make her big move from Taiwan to New York to grow her drag career.

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Like her sisters tried to tell her all season, Michelle lets Nymphia in on the secret that “all the stress was probably not worth it.” Nymphia admits that she “kind of lost track of who I was” by second-guessing herself at many times in the competition. She tells Michelle that one of her goals was to show a “rich, rich Asian culture” in her drag and to “break the Asian curse” by not being one of the first queens eliminated. So for Nymphia to make it all the way to the “Grand Finale” is a major accomplishment both personally and on a larger scale.

On the topic of Nymphia drinking the potion gifted to her by Plane Jane, she says she  had “instant regret” because at that time she was insecure, but also wanted and needed to hear the judges’ critiques. When it comes to fashion, Nymphia explains that it has always been about “making something pretty” and her chance to “communicate to the world” and “saying stuff.” Michelle thinks that Nymphia “turned so many iconic looks” over the course of the season and appreciates that she brought pieces of Taiwan to the Main Stage.

Check out Michelle’s conversations with the previously eliminated queens of the season: Hershii LiqCour-Jeté after episode 3, Mirage after episode 4, Amanda Tori Meating after episode 5. Geneva Karr after episode 6, Megami after episode 7, Xunami Muse after episode 8, Plasma after episode 9, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige after episode 11, Dawn after episode 12., and Q after episode 14.

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