RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki
RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki
Drag Race Wiki
2,690
pages
in: Contestants, Articles in need of citations, Drag U Professors,
and 15 more
English

Ongina

Sign in to edit

Ongina is an American drag performer, HIV activist,[1] and a contestant of the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race where she placed 5th.

Ongina later returned as a contestant for the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars[2] where she placed 9th.

Quick Answers

What is the origin of Ongina's drag name? toggle section
The drag name 'Ongina' is derived from her middle name 'Ong', her mother's surname, and the suffix '-ina'. Before adopting 'Ongina', she was known as 'Peck-Peck Galore' for two years, with 'Peck-Peck' being a Tagalog term for vagina.
Provided by: Fandom
What place did Ongina secure in the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race? toggle section
In the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race, Ongina, the American drag queen and HIV activist, secured the 5th position. She later participated in the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, finishing in the 9th place.
Provided by: Fandom
What role does Ongina play as an HIV activist? toggle section
Ongina, a well-known drag queen, is an active HIV activist. She hosted the 'HIV and Me' series on Logo, sharing stories of people living with HIV, including her own. She also participated in AIDS activism, notably through the 'Red Ribbon Runway' ad campaign by Gilead Sciences. The dress she wore for this campaign was auctioned, with the funds benefiting the National Association of People with AIDS.
Provided by: Fandom
How did Ongina perform in the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars? toggle section
American drag performer and HIV activist, Ongina, secured the 9th place in the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. She was eliminated in the second episode by Shea Couleé. Ongina was notably the first queen to face elimination while leading her season in that particular episode.
Provided by: Fandom
Is Ongina still active in the drag scene? toggle section
Ongina remains an active participant in the drag scene. She competed in 'RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars' and hosted a series named 'HIV and Me' on Logo. She is known for her creative contributions, including hand-painting Pandora's dress for her pop art look and crafting numerous headpieces. She also made a cameo in All Stars 1 as a van driver.
Provided by: Fandom

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[]

This article needs citations

This article is in need of citations to make sure all information stated is correct.

  • 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 worked 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"; a 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:
    • Queen 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 the 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 previous All Stars seasons but didn't make the final cast in any of them. However, she was cast 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[]

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1 Looks[]

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10[]

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10 Looks[]

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 5[]

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 5 Looks[]

Videos[]

Filmography[]

TV[]

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2009 RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 1 Self 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 Self 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 Self 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 Self 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 Self [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[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Living Out Loud: An Interview With Drag Performer Ongina | thebody.com — September 29, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Moves Back to VH1 From Showtime, Reveals Cast | Variety.com — May 8, 2020
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Meet Ongina | YouTube, RuPaul's Drag Race — September 25, 2013
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ongina: Queen for a Day | Brandon Voss, Advocate.com — February 2009
  5. ↑ 11 moments that took RuPaul’s Drag Race from scrappy underdog to pop culture behemoth | Vox.com — March 22, 2018
  6. ↑ Drag Race queens who shared their brave HIV experiences | Dragsociety.com — December 1, 2021
  7. ↑ Drag Star Ongina Shares Her Powerful Story of Living with HIV | LATV — November 22, 2022
  8. ↑ 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Star Ongina Talks All Things Drag | HUFFPOST — July 12, 2017
  9. ↑ Ongina - RuPaul's Drag Race Casting Audition Tape | YouTube, WOWPresents — October 29, 2013
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ongina - Tails of the City: Pets 4 Pets Episode 2 | YouTube, WOWPresents — January 13, 2019
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 About | onginaofficial.com
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season One, Meet The Queens: Ongina | Logo TV — August 26, 2013
  13. ↑ RuPaul's Drag Race | X — November 12, 2013
  14. ↑ 'RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE ALL STARS SEASON 5' QUEEN ONGINA ON GOING HOME | Nylon — April 23, 2020
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 RuPaul's Drag Race season 1 queens reunite to slay in season 10 finale preview | Entertainment Weekly — June 27, 2018
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 The X Change Rate: "All Stars" Season 5 Queens (Part 3) | YouTube, BUILD Series — June 6, 2020
  17. ↑ Here’s who Ongina would’ve “killed” on Snatch Game for Drag Race All Stars 5 | GAYTIMES
  18. ↑ From Crystal Methyd to Sum Ting Wong, here are 8 Drag Race queens you didn’t know were on Twitch | Pink News — April 16, 2021
  19. ↑ Pandora’s All Stars 6 Looks 🤩 Ruvealing the Look | YouTube, RuPaul's Drag Race — August 9, 2021
  20. ↑ Very Delta #72: "Do You Hieeee! Like Me?" (w/ Ongina)
  21. ↑ RuPaul's Drag Race Contestant Ongina is the Challenge Winner! | Zimbio — February 25, 2009
  22. ↑ Logo to air 'Dragtastic' comedy special tonight: Host Pandora Boxx gives EW a preview! | Entertainment Weekly — January 17, 2011
  23. ↑ RuPaul's Drag U: Professor Ongina | HuffPost — December 6, 2017
  24. ↑ 'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap: Top moments from last night's clip show | Entertainment Weekly — March 13, 2015
  25. ↑ Drag Race Zombies? Happy Halloween from RuPaul! | LogoTV — October 31, 2011
  26. ↑ 'RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race' season finale recap | Entertainment Weekly — November 27, 2012
  27. ↑ RuPaul's Drag Race 10s Across the Board | IMDb
  28. ↑ ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 11 premiere recap: Queens here, queens there, queens everywhere | Xtra Magazine — February 28, 2019
  29. ↑ WATCH: ‘Younger’ Star Nico Tortorella Stunned as Ariana Grande on ‘Lip Sync’ Battle | instinct magazine — June 7, 2019
  30. ↑ RuPaul brings 22 Drag Race queens to costar on AJ and the Queen | Entertainment Weekly — December 3, 2019
  31. ↑ ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Brings Back ‘Untucked’ Aftershow For Season 5 | Deadline — June 5, 2020
  32. ↑ Under The Hood of RuPaul’s Drag Race 4 | World of Wonder — February 24, 2009
  33. ↑ Amazing HIV+ Gay Men: Ongina | HIV Plus Magazine — September 10, 2014
  34. ↑ Ongina on WOW Shopping Network | YouTube, WOWPresents — May 23, 2014
  35. ↑ Ongina on Ring My Bell | YouTube, WOWPresents — May 24, 2014
  36. ↑ BESTIE$ FOR CA$H: Ongina & Thed Jewel | YouTube, WOWPresents — September 23, 2016
  37. ↑ RuPaul's Drag Race Star ONGINA on HEY QWEEN with Jonny McGovern Part 1 | YouTube, Hey Qween — July 10, 2017
  38. ↑ The Pit Stop: s9 E11 | YouTube, RuPaul's Drag Race — June 5, 2017
  39. ↑ Drag Queens React Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again w/ Aja Chad Jaidynn Jinkx Kimora Ongina Raja & Raven | YouTube, WOWPresents — May 17, 2018
  40. ↑ FASHION PHOTO RUVIEW: Madonna with Mayhem and Ongina! | YouTube, WOWPresents — September 29, 2018
  41. ↑ Ongina | YouTube, Cosmopolitan — October 29, 2018
  42. ↑ Entomology with Ongina and Kimora Blac: WAIT, WHAT? | YouTube, WOWPresents — December 17, 2018
  43. ↑ FOLLOW ME: Mariah Balenciaga | YouTube, WOWPresents — May 6, 2019
  44. ↑ Chester Lockhart, Dida Ritz, and Ongina Join The Vivienne on “The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood” | Facebook, World of Wonder — May 7, 2020
  45. ↑ Whatcha Packin’: Ongina | YouTube, RuPaul's Drag Race — June 16, 2020
  46. ↑ Drag Race's BeBe and Ongina reveal the truth behind season 1's infamous filter | Entertainment Weekly — July 2, 2020
  47. ↑ Drag Race star Ongina opens up on feeling free after sharing her HIV status | GCN — May 27, 2022
  48. ↑ WOW Presents Plus are ‘saving the world from straight people’ with their fall previews trailer | GAYTIMES
  49. ↑ Kerri Colby Talks Watching Sasha Colby on Drag Race & Her New Show | Out.com — January 23, 2023
  50. ↑ How RuPaul’s Drag Race Queens Became the Hottest Music Video Accessory | W Magazine — May 3, 2019
  51. ↑ Not A Pearl by Willam | YouTube, Willam Belli — September 11, 2015
  52. ↑ Dragopolis 2.0 Has Arrived! | Logo TV — December 4, 2014

Navigation[]

Español
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.