Naya Thorn makes Midlands proud in Drag Race finale

Dudley-born drag performer, Naya Thorn, has made the West Midlands proud, making it to the finale of series eight of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Naya competed in the show, beating eight other drag performers to reach the top four alongside: Flesh, Alik, and Mocha. Narrowly missing out on the crown, Naya placed joint third place alongside Mocha, while was crowned the latest “Drage Race Superstar’. 

Ahead of the finale, Naya commented on social media: “I mean I think it’s about time we brought the crown home to the Midlands. The Black Country was of course the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution so it feels right. 

“Thank you to EVERYONE who has stayed by me this entire journey, your support is everything to me and I hope whatever happens on Thursday I’ve done everybody proud.”

Naya is one of many drag performers hailing from the West and East Midlands, including: Baga Chipz, Sum Ting Wong, Ginny Lemon, Kitty Scott Claus, Cheddar Gorgeous, Black Peppa, Kate Butch, Zahirah Zapanta, and Viola. Naya also competed this year against two other Midlands-born queens, Birmingham’s Anita Piss, and Staffordshire’s KY Kelly. She joins a long line of Midlands queens who made it to the finale of their series including: Series one's Baga Chipz who placed third, series three's Kitty Scott-Claus who was joint runner up, and series four's Cheddar Gorgeous, who was runner-up to winner Danny Beard. 

Naya was a strong competitor from the start, placing in the top two in the first week’s challenge ‘Keep Calm and Drag On’; featuring a talent show in which the drag performer showcased her humour and talent in a fast-paced lipsync number full of jokes and accents. She narrowly missed out on the first-week win after losing a top-two lipsync to KY Kelly. 

As the competition show progressed, Naya secured two further wins. In Episode 7, 'Ghost Hunties', the main challenge saw the queens act in a paranormal TV show parody. While episode 9,'The Last Laugh', featuring the "Naff-Ta Awards" Roast, secured Naya another win in the week before the finale. 

For the majority of the other challenges, Naya was consistently safe, only slipping into the bottom two once in the competition in episode 6, ‘Holiday Hits’; in which the contestants had to write, record, and perform verses to remake of Agadoo by Black Lace. Naya remained in the competition after winning the lipsync against Anita Piss to Anne-Marie and Little Mix's Kiss My (Uh-Oh).

Speaking in interviews with Jamie Windust, and Bally Singh for Fancy a Pod, Naya shared her post show aspirations, which include: going into Panto and getting back into theatre productions, taking a one-woman cabaret show on tour around Europe, and taking on TV, reality shows and acting. 

During the chat for Fancy a Pod, Naya Thorn also revealed that she’s in talks for a new YouTube series called ‘The Homecoming Tour’, which would see her showcase different areas of the Black Country and wider Midlands in drag. 

She explained to Jamie Windust: “I think you can see on the show, I don’t have a specific type of drag that I stick to. I try and dabble in literally everything because I genuinely enjoy every facet of drag I dip my toes into.”