‘Drag Race’ Star Nina West Makes Emmys History as the First to Walk the Red Carpet in Full Drag
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 contestant Nina West just walked the 2019 Emmys red carpet.
According to Nina’s rep, she’s the first drag queen to ever walk it in full drag, which means she just made history!
The Emmy Awards have been around since the late ’40s, so it’s not exactly a show prone to “firsts.” Even 2019’s whole “we have no host, our bad” thing has happened again (1975) and again (1998) and again (2003) if you look back at Emmys history.
But a RuPaul’s Drag Race star just managed to do the near impossible and bring something new to the Primetime Emmys. Nina West walked the 2019 Emmys red carpet in full drag, making her the first queen to ever do so. (RuPaul has obviously walked the Emmys carpet many times but never in full drag.)
Nina spoke to Cosmopolitan at Entertainment Weekly’s 2019 pre-Emmys party a couple of days before showtime in Los Angeles, reflecting on what it feels like to be an ambassador of drag and Drag Race.
“I’m going to the Emmys, I’m going to the Primetime Emmys! It’s kind of crazy. It’s weird to be a part of this—and I keep saying this—but it’s really strange after nine years of auditioning [for the show] to be part of this global phenomenon and be one of RuPaul’s girls and share that message and tell that story all over the world,” Nina told Cosmo.
@rupaulsdragrace @rupaulofficial @worldofwonder @vh1 @viacom @televisionacad #creativeartsemmys
A post shared by Nina West (@ninawest) on Sep 20, 2019 at 7:26pm PDT
“But the best part about it is, not only are we celebrating the show, but [also] what the show really does is celebrate gay people and a really crazy subcultural art form in our community that is just so beautiful and vibrant and colorful. Ru is the queen for a reason,” she said, continuing:
“I’m lucky enough to kind of be under her wig and go out into the world and celebrate her message, which is a platform I also believe in. ‘Everybody say love!’ That’s a huge thing that we all have an opportunity to share, and especially in these times when people are so angry and angst-filled, the show is such a bright light of hope. It’s great to be a part of that.”
Drag queens have certainly walked other Emmys-related carpets before in full drag but never ahead of the primetime show. Just a week before her big red-carpet moment, Nina walked the Creative Emmys red carpet, as did Brooke Lynn Hytes and Valentina.
And back in July, Willam Belli and Rhea Litre walked the Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards red carpet in full drag.
As did Mayhem Miller and Eureka O’Hara in 2018.
Fingers crossed this is the start of more drag on the red carpets, because let’s be honest here, these looks are 1,000x more interesting than what everyone else is wearing.
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