Onya Nurve | |
---|---|
Born | Justin Woody Canton, Ohio, U.S. [1] |
Education | Cleveland Institute of Art (BFA) |
Occupation | Drag queen |
Years active | 2024–present |
Onya Nurve is the stage name of Justin Woody, [2] an American drag performer competing on the seventeenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2025).
Onya Nurve began performing as a drag queen in 2021. [1] Before Drag Race, Onya Nurve was named Cleveland's best drag performer in the Cleveland Scene's 2023 Best of Cleveland issue and won the title of Mx. Zephyr in the first Zephyr Drag Takeover competition in Kent a year prior. She has additionally been crowned Miss Addicted to Glamour Newcomer. Onya Nurve is the inaugural ArtReach fellow for Haus of Transcendent, a Cleveland-based LGBTQ nonprofit. [3] [4] In 2018, the portrayed the character of Youth in the Karamu House's production of Passing Strange . [1] In 2024, she served as a consultant for the Dobama Theatre's production of AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN. [5] She has described herself as the "Andy Warhol of the drag scene". [3]
On RuPaul's Drag Race, Onya won her first challenge in the fourth episode of the season, in which she performed a jazz parody of Laganja Estranja's stand-up comedy routine from the sixth season. [6]
Woody is based in Cleveland. [7] He got his BFA in painting at Cleveland Institute of Art. [8] Prior to appearing on Drag Race, he worked at Doinks Burger Joint. [7]