“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 15 featured the largest cast in the show’s history, including, for the first time ever, three queens of Asian American Pacific Islander heritage in a single season.
The winner, native Hawaiian Sasha Colby, became the first Polynesian queen to be crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar over Anetra, a queen of mixed Filipino heritage. It marked the first time since Season 3 that the two finalists were of AAPI descent.
Colby was joined by Season 15 contestant Aura Mayari and executive producer Mandy Salangsang in a conversation with TheWrap about representation on the franchise — which is nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition and eight additional Emmy awards this year — and the unique challenges and rewards they faced as AAPI drag queens.