Ongina is an American drag performer, HIV activist,[1] and one of the contestants of the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race where she placed 5th.
Ongina later returned as one of the contestants for the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars[2] where she placed 9th.
Drag Name Origin[]
Her drag name, comes from her middle name "Ong", which is her mom’s last name. She then added the "last three letters of a certain kind of –ina", as she "wasn't blessed with one" and formed Ongina.[3] At first, her first name that used for around 2 years was Peck-Peck Galore ("Peck-Peck" means vagina in Tagalog).[4]
Track Record(s)[]
| Statistics | USA Season 1 | USA All Stars Season 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking: | 5th Place | 9th Place |
| Maxi Challenges Won: | 2 (Eps. 2, 4) | 0 |
| Mini Challenges Won: | 1 (Ep. 2) | 0 |
| Times as Team Captain: | 1 (Ep. 2) | 0 |
| Times in Bottom: | 1 (Ep. 5) | 1 (Ep. 2) |
| Episode Eliminated: | Episode 5 | Episode 2 |
Memorable Quotes[]
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1[]
- "I'm Ryan, also known as Ongina."
- "Hiee!!!" (quote by Ongina that was popularized by Alaska)
- "I'm gonna have to put my balls behind my freakin' body today."
- "I needed to make sure I didn't have a manel toe."
- "Last week, the judges told me that I looked like a boy in a dress, and I wanted to elevate that this week. Not so much boy in a dress but, a drag queen in a dress."
- "My name is Connie Chung." (impersonating Connie Chung in the Oprah Winfrey challenge)
- "I'm a Mac Viva Glam woman because like you and many others, I care. Educate, Donate & Celebrate, because life is a celebration!" (her famous quote from her MAC Viva glam commercial)[5]
- "I just want to say, I've always been so afraid to say it, that I've been living with HIV for the last 2 years of my life and... it means so much to me." (after winning the main challenge of Mac Viva Glam)[6]
- "If I don't win this, I swear to god I'm gonna cut someone!"
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 5[]
- "So y'all thought I'd never get here...sorry, I was stuck in traffique." (Entrance quote)
- "I'm from the very first season of RuPaul's Drag Race, the one that started this whole shenanigans."
- "Mmm, juicy tea."
- "Okay, first of all you're not BenDeLaCreme, and you wish you were, and second, you're not a judge, slow your roll. And third, there's no third, just shut the fuck up already." (about Miz Cracker)
- "He's my super heroman" (Recording I'm in Love)
- "♪ Henry Cavill. He's my Superman, and we flying, flying, and when we touch down I'll be riding, riding. Makes me weak with those blue eyes like kryptonite between my thighs.♪" (verse in I'm in Love)
- "Celebrate your life, because life is a celebration!"(Exit quote)
Trivia[]
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- Ongina was born in the Philippines and moved to Seattle, Washington in 1994 when he was 12.[7]
- After Seattle, Ongina moved to New York at 19 years old, where she ended up working at "Lucky Chengs", an Asian restaurant where customers are entertained by drag queens. She worked there with (a then-unknown) Laverne Cox.[8]
- Ongina worked as a visual merchandiser manager for a specialty retail boutique.[9]
- Ongina has two dogs named "Little Monster" and "Iggy"; one cat named "Athena"; and a guinea pig named "Hamlin".[10]
- One of Ongina's most memorable performances was doing a lap-dance for a straight man for his birthday in Alabama, at a restaurant Ongina worked at. The man knew he was at a drag show and had fun with it. However, when Ongina did a flip-over on the man's body, her wig fell off.[3]
- Ongina does not normally wear wigs. Only on certain occasions will Ongina wear a wig.[4] She is the first queen to not wear a wig on the main stage.[11]
- Ongina loves to collect headpieces and hats and prefers to wear headpieces instead of wigs.[4] She even receives headpieces from her fans.
- Ongina doesn't pad or tuck.[12]
- RuPaul's single, "LadyBoy" was inspired by Ongina herself.[13]
- A memorable feature of Ongina is a Japanese tattoo on her right arm. Ongina wanted a Japanese tattoo, not with a Sumo wrestler. She was advised to Google anime, and Ongina found a female samurai named Sakura Shinguji from "Sakura Wars" and who is now featured on Ongina's tattoo. Her tattoo also features a Japanese Rising-Sun flag, and Japanese symbols representing one life, one choice, and one destiny.[citation needed]
- Ongina is the first...
- ...to wear mainly headpieces instead of wigs.[11]
- ...contestant to receive positive critiques, but not win the challenge.
- ...contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race to win the Girl Groups challenge.
- ...contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race to win 2 main challenges.
- ...queen to achieve 5th place.
- ...queen to come out as HIV/AIDS positive on the show.
- ...contestant on the show to be eliminated after winning the previous week's challenge.
- ...contestant in series' history to have won two main challenges and not place in the top three.
- ...contestant to never participate in a promo shoot.
- ...contestant to be eliminated by the winner of her season.
- ...asian queen to appear on RuPaul's Drag Race.
- Ongina was shortlisted for all All-Stars seasons but didn't make the final cast in any of them. However, she was casted for All Stars 5, and placed 9th.[14]
- She lip-synced alongside Blair St. Clair during the Season 10 finale[15]
- Ongina, along with Delta Work, appeared as cameos in All Stars 1, where they served as van drivers to bring the remaining Top 4 queens to their interview and Hamburger Mary's challenges.
- Ongina is the first queen to be eliminated while being the front-runner of her season in that episode. At the time of her elimination, she was holding 2 Maxi-Challenge wins while all other contestants had only 1 or no wins.
- For All Stars 5, she brought two backup looks for each runway (Said in The X Change Rate Interview).[16]
- She is the first person to be voted unanimously for the new All Stars format.
- If Ongina would have made it to the Snatch Game episode, she would have done Marie Kondo or Connie Chung.[17]
- Ongina is one of the seven queens to compete on more than one season, but only lip-sync once, the other six being Milk, Thorgy Thor, Nina Flowers, Blair St. Clair, Mariah Paris Balenciaga, and Mrs. Kasha Davis.
- On both seasons she competed in, Ongina was sent home by the winner of the season.
- Ongina is the lowest placing Maxi Challenge winner on Season 1.
- Ongina is the first RuGirl who's name starts with an "O", followed by Olivia Lux in Season 13.
- Ongina had a Twitch Channel called Onginatv during the covid pandemic.[18]
- Ongina is one of the eight All Stars to never compete in Snatch Game, along with Mimi Imfurst, Jasmine Masters, Mayhem Miller, Serena ChaCha, Monica Beverly Hillz, Naysha Lopez, and Mrs. Kasha Davis.
- Ongina helped Pandora Boxx create most of her looks for All Stars 6 and notably hand-painted Pandora's dress and cape for her pop art look, and created numerous headpieces.[19]
- Ongina hosted a series on Logo called "HIV and Me". The series tells different stories from individuals who are living their lives being HIV Positive.
- Ongina revealed on the Very Delta podcast that Drag Race producers really wanted to cast her on All Stars 1 but her manager at her job out of drag told her that she wouldn't be able to come back if she left to film the season, and at that time she valued her job stability over returning to Drag Race.[20]
- She also had heard that Mimi Imfurst was cast when she turned it down, but said she couldn't be sure.
Gallery[]
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1[]
Reaction Selfies Photo – "You just found out your 10.000$ Louis Vuitton bag is a fake"
Reaction Selfies Photo – "Somebody cut the cheese"
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1 Looks[]
Promo Look (Best Drag)
Promo Look (Best Drag)
Promo Look (Drag Race)
Confessional Look
Entrance Look
Drag on a Dime Look
Girl Group Challenge Look
Dressed to Impress Look
Mac Viva-Glam Challenge Look
Drag School Of Charm Look
Reunion Look
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10[]
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10 Looks[]
Past Alumni RuTurn Look
Finale Look
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 5[]
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 5 Looks[]
Promo/Entrance Look
Promo/Entrance Look
Entertainment Weekly Cover Photos Look
Confessional Look
Werq the World Variety Extravaganza Look
Werq the World Variety Extravaganza Look (Reveal 1)
Werq the World Variety Extravaganza Look (Reveal 2)
Love The Skin You're In Look
Unaired Three, Three, Three Looks In One Look
Unaired Camo Couture Look (Options)
Unaired Snatch Game of Love Look – Marie Kondo & Connie Chung (Options)
Unaired Prom Queen Fantasy Look (Options)
Unaired Country Cousin Realness Look
Unaired Freak Out! Look (Options)
All Star Eleganza Look
Videos[]
Meet Ongina - RuPaul's Drag Race- The Lost Season Ru-Vealed
Ongina - RuPaul's Drag Race Casting Audition Tape
Ongina on the Red Carpet of the "AJ & The Queen" Premiere in Hollywood
Whatcha Packin’ Ongina AS5
Get to Know the All Stars 5 Cast
Filmography[]
TV[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 1 | Themself | contestant (5th place) | [21] |
| 2010 | One Night Stand Up | Episode: "Dragtastic" | [22] | |
| 2010-11 | RuPaul's Drag U | Professor Ongina | 2 seasons, 5 appearances | [23] |
| 2010 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 2 | Themself | Episode: "The Main Event Clip Show" (Special guest) | [24] |
| 2012 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 4 | Zombie | Episode: "RuPocalypse Now!" | [25] |
| 2012 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Season 1 | Themself | Episode: "The Grand Finale" | [26] |
| 2014 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 6 | Episode: "The Finale" (Audience) | ||
| 2018 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 10 | Episode: "10s Across the Board", Episode: "Grand Finale" | [15][27] | |
| 2019 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 11 | Episode: "Whatcha Unpackin?" (Special Guest) | [28] | |
| 2019 | Lip Sync Battle | Backup dancer | Guest | [29] |
| 2020 | AJ and the Queen | Themself | Guest | [30] |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (Season 5) | Contestant (9th place) | [2] | |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 5: Untucked | Contestant (9th place) | [31] |
Web Series[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Under the Hood | Themself | [32] | |
| 2014 | HIV and Me | Host | [33] | |
| 2014 | WOW Shopping Network | Guest, 1 appearance | [34] | |
| 2014 | Ring My Bell | Guest | [35] | |
| 2016 | Besties For Ca$h | Guest, with Thed Jewel | [36] | |
| 2017 | Epic Voices | amFAR mini-series | [1] | |
| 2017 | Hey Qween! | Guest | [37] | |
| 2017-19 | The Pit Stop | Special Guest | [38] | |
| 2018 | Drag Queens React | Guest, Episode: "Drag Queens React to Mamma Mia!" | [39] | |
| 2018 | Fashion Photo RuView | Co-Host (with Mayhem Miller) | [40] | |
| 2018 | Cosmo Queens | Guest | [41] | |
| 2018 | Wait, What? | Guest, hosted by Kimora Blac | [42] | |
| 2019 | Tails of the City | Episode 2: Pets 4 Pets | [10] | |
| 2019 | Follow Me | Episode: "Mariah Balenciaga" | [43] | |
| 2020 | The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood | Guest appearance | [44] | |
| 2020 | The X Change Rate | Guest | [16] | |
| 2020 | Watcha Packin' | Guest | [45] | |
| 2020 | Binge | Podcast by Entertainment Weekly | [46] | |
| 2022 | Poz Vibe | Podcast | [47] | |
| 2022 | Thongue Thai'd | Guest | [48] | |
| 2023 | Kerri Kares | Special guest, Episode: "Being a Driven Diva" | [49] |
Music Videos[]
| Year | Title | Artist | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "I Gotta Feeling" | The Black Eyed Peas | [50] |
| 2015 | "Not a Pearl" | Willam Belli | [51] |
Other[]
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Dragopolis 2.0 | Mobile game (Voice) | [52] |
Awards and Nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | NewNowNext Awards | Most Addictive Reality Star | Winner | [12] |
External Links[]
References[]
[]
| Winner | BeBe Zahara Benet |
|---|---|
| Runners-Up | 2nd: Nina Flowers (Miss Congeniality) • 3rd: Rebecca Glasscock |
| Other Contestants | 4th: Shannel • 5th: Ongina • 6th: Jade • 7th: Akashia • 8th: Tammie Brown • 9th: Victoria "Porkchop" Parker |
| Judges | RuPaul • Santino Rice • Merle Ginsberg |
| Pit Crew | Emanuel Palmer • Max "The Body" Philisaire |
| Winner | Shea Couleé |
|---|---|
| Runners-Up | 2nd & 3rd: Jujubee & Miz Cracker |
| Other Contestants | 4th: Blair St. Clair • 5th: Alexis Mateo • 6th: India Ferrah • 7th: Mayhem Miller • 8th: Mariah Paris Balenciaga • 9th: Ongina • 10th: Derrick Barry |
| Lip Sync Assassins | Yvie Oddly • Alyssa Edwards • Monét X Change • Morgan McMichaels • Vanessa Vanjie Mateo • Roxxxy Andrews • Kennedy Davenport |
| Judges | RuPaul • Michelle Visage • Carson Kressley • Ross Mathews |
| Pit Crew | Jason Carter • Bruno Carvalho • Bryce Eilenberg |