RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 on Friday night crowned Sasha Velour as America's next drag superstar. She went against Peppermint in the finale in an epic lip sync battle and finally RuPaul awarded the crown to Velour.
So who exactly is this new drag superstar? Here are a few interesting tidbits about Sasha:
Name: Sasha's real name is Sasha Steinberg. She was named after Alexandra Kollontai, a Russian feminist leader. "Sasha is actually my given name. It's a Russian nickname for Alexander or Alexandra… And "Velour"? Velvet is my favourite fabric but all I can afford is velour," she told HisKind.com.
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First Performance: Although Sasha had always been into drag, even as a child, she did her first public drag show after college in a gay bar. She was visiting her parents at the time.
Bald Look: Sasha's bald look is a tribute to her mother, who lost all her hair due to cancer treatment.
She's pretty smart: Sasha holds a Masters from the Center for Cartoon Studies, and has spent a year studying LGBT art in Russia as a Fulbright Scholar. Sasha is the creative director of Velour: The Drag Magazine, and also produces the monthly drag show Nightgowns.
Drag a form of activism: "I believe drag is a form of activism. It centers queer people and queer ways of being beautiful, especially in a political context where beauty is narrowly defined or what's considered important or valuable is narrowly defined, and drag always offers a different option," the Brooklyn-based queen told EW.
