Akashia is the stage name of Eric Flint, a drag queen from Cleveland, Ohio. Akashia was a contestant on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race.
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Drag Origin
Eric believes that drag allows him to be an actor and get away with things more than he could as Eric. Performing as Akashia, her goal is to entertain. She always aims to please the audience, prove her capabilities, and leave them wanting more.
In her introduction video for "Drag Race", she described herself as "crazy, real and honest", and it was known for her looks, beauty, shadiness, and for wearing very little clothing.
Akashia's drag name comes from the vampire "Akasha" from the movie "Queen of the Damned", based on the novel by Anne Rice and played by Aaliyah in the movie. She has previously dressed up as Akasha for Halloween.
RuPaul's Drag Race
| Season Competed | Season 1 |
|---|---|
| Ranking: | 7th Place |
| Mini-Challenges Won: | 1 (Ep. 2) |
| Times as Team Captain: | 1 (Ep. 2) |
| Times Placed High: | 0 |
| Main Challenges Won: | 0 |
| Times Placed Low: | 0 |
| Times in Bottom: | 3 (Eps. 1, 2, 3) |
| Episode Eliminated | Episode 3 |
Season 1
Akashia was eliminated on the third episode of Drag Race. The queens had to channel their "Inner Oprah": Their first task was to read off a teleprompter to the camera about current events, the second one was to pitch a chosen product as Oprah does on her "My Favorite Things" specials, and their final task was to interview celebrity guest judges Tori Spelling and Dean McDermond. Throughout the season, Akashia was known for her fierce and often confrontational personality that caused some tension between both her and the judges.
The causes of her elimination is first reflected in the main challenge. Akashia messed up reading the teleprompter and froze during her product pitching. In addition, Akashia refused good manners by not standing up to greet Tori and Dean as they arrived on the set, and she didn't say goodbye to them as they left. Also, during her runway presentation, she slipped and fell from stepping on her dress.
The episode of Akashia's elimination was her third time in a row in the bottom two. She was outshined by Shannel in her elimination, but eliminated Tammie Brown and Victoria Parker in the previous episodes.
Memorable Quotes
- "I love the attention, I do. I love it, crave it..."
- "Jade is very cute, um I might be a lesbian with him."
- "Maybe the makeup is just afraid to stay on your face!" (to Victoria Parker as her makeup was running off).
- "Every competition needs a bitch, and that bitch is ME and I'm happy with that. I tell it how it is and I'm fierce!"
- "I can't believe I'm crying! I haven't cried in like, 4 years!"
Trivia
- Eric was kicked out of his house at the age of 17 for being gay. Other than this, he does not talk much about his personal life or family throughout the season.
- Akashia's purpose for wearing the bronze dress on her final episode was to prove to the judges that there is more to her than wearing skimpy outfits, but she regretted this decision after her elimination.
- Akashia is the first queen...
- ...from Ohio.
- ...to survive a lip-sync, as well as the first queen to lip-sync twice and thrice, thus making her the first "lip-sync assassin".
- ...to lip-sync in every episode she competed in.
- She is also the only contestant to accomplish this that survived at least 2 lip-syncs.
- Similarly, she is the first queen to lipsync in the first 3 competitive episodes of the season. She has since been followed by BenDeLaCreme and Denali.
- When Season 1 aired as "The Lost Season" in 2013, they mistakenly showed a fan twitter account (@DragAkashia) as if it were hers. She does not have an active Twitter.
- She lip-synced alongside The Vixen during the Season 10 finale.
- She has said she would for sure return for an All Stars season if asked.
- At 24 when Season 1 was filmed, she is the oldest queen to have been the youngest of her season during a regular season of the show.
- If All Stars is taken into account, then Yara Sofia and Jujubee, who were both 28 when All Stars 1 was filmed, would hold the title overall.
Gallery
Season 1 Looks
Videos
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 1 | Herself | |
| 2014 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 4 | Herself | Episode: "RuPocalypse Now!" (Zombie) |
| 2018 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 10 | Herself | Episode: "Grand Finale" |
Web Series
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Under The Hood | Herself |
Social Media
|
2nd: Nina Flowers (Miss Congeniality) • 3rd: Rebecca Glasscock | |
|
4th: Shannel • 5th: Ongina • 6th: Jade • 7th: Akashia • 8th: Tammie Brown • 9th: Victoria "PorkChop" Parker | |
|
Emanuel Palmer • Max "The Body" Philisaire | |
