Aquaria wins 10th season of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

It’s official: The latest winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is a West Chester, Pennsylvania, native.

In Thursday’s season 10 finale, Aquaria beat out fellow competitors Eureka, Asia O’Hara and Kameron Michaels to be declared the next drag superstar. Her grand prize includes $100,000, a year supply of cosmetics and a scepter and crown.

“Sometimes in life,” Aquaria, 22, said during the finale,

“you’re not always given a second chance, but if you do, take advantage of it and go out with a bang.”

The episode featured Aquaria squaring off against Michaels and Eureka in a lip-sync battle — the first time in the show’s history that three queens competed for the crown. Asia, meanwhile, was eliminated after a butterfly malfunction during a performance in the episode.

For the final rounds, Aquaria, Michaels, and Eureka lipsynced to Jessie J.’s “Bang Bang” featuring Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.

Aquaria, known offstage as Giovanni Paladrani, has been a favorite to win for most of this season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and was a fierce competitor. Of all the contestants in season 10, Aquaria is the lone contestant to win three of the show’s challenges, including the beloved “Snatch Game,” in which Aquaria dressed as Melania Trump. Asia and Eureka won two challenges each, while Michaels won one challenge.

Aside from her performance on the show, Aquaria also has an established following in the drag world. Prior to appearing on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” she already had some 100,000 followers on Instagram. That number has since swelled to more than 830,000 followers.

As Aquaria recently told LGBTQ magazine Them, he became interested in dance as a child, and trained professionally for four years. At the same time, he became interested in YouTube makeup tutorials from the likes of Gigi Gorgeous, and eventually started pursuing drag in high school.

“Now prance,” RuPaul told Aquaria after she was announced as the winner on Thursday. “Prance, my queen.”

“Sometimes in life you’re not always given a second chance, but if you do, take advantage of it and go out with a bang.” Aquaria

Theo Wargo / Getty Images Aquaria, known offstage as Giovanni Paladrani, has been a favorite to win for most of this season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”