Nina Bo'nina Brown is the stage name of Pierre Leverne Dease, a drag queen, performer, makeup artist, content creator, and one of the Season 9 contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race (placed 6th).
Name Origin
Formally known as "Beatta Bitchass", and "Lady Guinavere", Nina decided to choose another name due to the fact that people couldn't spell these ones correctly. "Nina" comes from the fact that she was attracted to this name, saying that it kept appearing in her dreams. "Bo'nina" was chosen by someone at a club, who randomly said "C'mon, Nina Bo'nina!". "Brown" isn't specified where it comes from.
RuPaul's Drag Race
| Season Competed: | Season 9 |
|---|---|
| Ranking: | 6th |
| Mini-Challenges Won: | 0 |
| Times as Team Captain: | 1 (Ep. 2) |
| Main Challenges Won: | 1 (Ep. 1) |
| Times in Bottom 2: | 3 (Eps. 7, 9, 10) |
| Episode Eliminated: | Episode 10 |
Episode 1: "Oh. My. Gaga!" - For the first challenge, the contestants had to showcase a hometown look and a Lady Gaga inspired look. Nina's hometown look was a Georgia peach complete with a paper headpiece, and her Gaga look was the lace Alexander McQueen bodysuit that was worn at the 2009 VMA's. Both of Nina's looks received high praise from the judges, and even from Lady Gaga herself. Later, she was named the winner of the challenge.
Episode 5: "Kardashian: The Musical" - The main challenge was to perform in a musical based on the Kardashian family. Alexis had won the mini challenge, and got to chose the characters for each contestant. Nina really wanted the role of Blac Chyna, but it was given to Shea Couleé. Alexis gave Nina the role of Khloé Kardashian which Nina thought was shady and rude. As rehearsal went on, Nina showed herself to be really mad and pouty about not being Blac Chyna still, and the other contestants got annoyed by her ignorance. Nina was put in the bottom 3 for her attitude and seeming bored in the musical, but did not have to lip-sync for her life.
Episode 6: "Snatch Game" - The main challenge was "Snatch Game". Nina decided to do Jasmine Masters, a contestant of Season 7. Nina performed well as Jasmine, placing in the top 3, but was criticized on her runway look as Trinity The Tuck wore the same look and the judges said that her look was more tailored to her body than Nina's.
Episode 7: "9021-HO" - The challenge was to act in a 90's teen drama. Nina struggled with pronouncing her lines, and with taking direction. Thus, she landed in the bottom 2 along with Aja, ultimately winning the lip-sync and being told to stay.
Episode 9: "Your Pilot's on Fire" - Nina ended up paired with Valentina to star in and create TV pilots. Their pilot was considered awkward and messy, which ended with Nina and Valentina in the bottom 2. While they were lip-syncing, RuPaul stopped the lip-sync when Valentina attempted to perform while wearing a mask covering her mouth. When the lip-sync restarted, Nina's energetic performance outshined Valentina, who had not learned the song. Nina stayed and Valentina was eliminated.
Episode 10: "Makeovers: Crew Better Work" - After the previous lip-sync, Nina revealed she felt no sense of victory and felt down that Valentina had been eliminated and she sent her home. The other contestants grew tired of her constantly being down, and ignored her. Nina was paired with crew member Aaron for the makeover, and they bonded over their love of art. Nina struggled with sewing two garments, and decided not to sew it herself. Nina named Aaron as "Ariana Bo'nina Brown" and they did a bunny look. Nina's runway look, and pair lip-sync landed her in the bottom 2 against Shea Couleé. Unable to avoid elimination after her third time in the bottom 2, she was eliminated.
Memorable Quotes
- "♪I'm Nina, Bo'nina, Banana, Fofana, Osama, Bin Laden Brown! Boom boom boom boom!♪" (Season 9 entrance quote)
- "Sue me!"
- "Somebody has to be the messy one."
- "She didn't rent it from the Netflix... she bought it."
- "Lady Gaga is really living for my foolishness."
- "Wait- Kimora doesn't have any work done." (referring to Episode 1, when Kimora forgot she got lip work.)
- "I should've been Blac Chyna."
- "I don't see it for me, but okay."
- "My ankle was hurting, but it magically feels better." (joking about Eureka)
- "Can I just wallow in my depression?"
- "What's your name baby?" (to Fortune Feimster, during the "Michelle Visage Roast")
- "You are a whoooole lotta woman, aren't you?" (to Fortune Feimster, during the "Michelle Visage Roast")
- "I almost just want to stand on stage and point, and do a Charlie number." (referring to her lip sync against Shea Couleé)
- "Don't cuss me out."
- "Not..." (usually starting a sentence)
- "Oop!"
Farewell Message
"Debbie Downer is gone. SUE ME! Shae Coulee hope you struggle cleaning this LOL. Love you all ♡"
Trivia
- Nina Bo'nina Brown is a fan of the movie franchise Child's Play, as well as some 90's/2000's cartoons, and TV shows;
- Brown was the makeup artist for some of Phi Phi O'Hara's looks for her "365 Days of Drag" project;
- She has struggled with depression, and anxiety since moving to Atlanta, Georgia;
- Her catchphrase "Sue me!" was the inspiration for the music "Sue Me" by Björk;
- She shares the same 1st name as Nina Flowers, and Nina West, as well as the same birthday as fellow Season 9 contestant Charlie Hides;
- On her YouTube channel (that has over 100,000 subscribers), she does, in a comical way, makeup tutotials, spoofs, reviews, and gameplay, sometimes also showing her illustration, and lip sync skills. For example, she reviews RuPaul's Drag Race episodes on her Youtube series RawView;
- She auditioned for the RuPauls Drag Race since Season 5 and was on the shortlist for Season 8, but didn't make the final cast;
- Before Season 9, she started getting popular for some viral videos, and makeup transformations;
- She claimed to be the 1st contestant to walk backwards on the runway but, actually, Trinity The Tuck did it 1st in the 5th episode of Season 9;
- Her lip sync against Valentina was listed as the #1 moment from 10 Season 9 moments by MsMojo, and as one of the most shocking moments of the show by RuPaul;
- Like Farrah Moan's, and Valentina's, her post-elimination makeup tutorial was accidentally uploaded to Logo's website before the episode aired;
- She's the 6th contestant to win the 1st challenge of her season, and not make it to the Final Top 3/4, after Morgan McMichaels on Season 2, Manila Luzon and Latrice Royale in All Stars 1 and 4, BenDeLaCreme on Season 6 and All Stars 3, and Roxxxy Andrews in All Stars 2, and has since been followed by Mayhem Miller on Season 10;
- She's the only contestant of her season to lip sync for her life 3 times;
- She's one of the most requested contestants to return on a future All Stars season;
- She was asked to be on All Stars 5, but refused. She has said since that she is interested in competing on All Stars 6.
- She is the first contestant named Nina that was eliminated in the makeover challenge. The second one is Nina West.
- Nina Flowers was raked ''low'' in the challenge, but didn't lipsync for her life.
- Out of three Ninas to compete on Drag Race, she is the only one to win a lipsync.
Gallery
Season 9 Looks
Filmography
TV
- (2017) RuPaul's Drag Race, on Season 9
ㅤ
Web Series
- (2016) Transformations
- (2017) Untucked, on Season 9
- (2018) Fashion Photo RuView
- (2018-Present) RawView
Social Media
| Winner | Sasha Velour |
|---|---|
| Runners-Up | 2nd: Peppermint • 3rd & 4th: Shea Couleé & Trinity Taylor |
| Other Contestants | 5th: Alexis Michelle • 6th: Nina Bo'nina Brown • 7th: Valentina (Miss Congeniality) • 8th: Farrah Moan • 9th: Aja • 10th: Cynthia Lee Fontaine • 11th: Eureka (Departed) • 12th: Charlie Hides • 13th: Kimora Blac • 14th: Jaymes Mansfield |
| Judges | RuPaul • Michelle Visage • Carson Kressley • Ross Mathews |
| Pit Crew | Jason Carter • Miles Davis Moody • Bryce Eilenberg |