This is it, folks. We’ve finally reached the end of Drag Race Down Under Season 4’s competitive episodes. This week, the queens show off their comedic abilities once again at the Roast of Rhys Nicholson. And while Lazy Susan and Vybe categorically killed the challenge, it was Nikita Iman and Mandy Moobs who struggled to shine, with Nikita ultimately missing out on a spot in the final four.
In conversation with Not Safe For Queers, Nikita Iman discusses coming out as fa’afafine on international television, whether or not she’s a married woman yet, and who she really thought should’ve gone home this week.
Looking back throughout Season 4, Nikita Iman has consistently brought her own fresh and unique perspective to the mainstage of Drag Race Down Under. And although she’d landed in the bottom on three occasions, there was always—in my eyes—every chance that she could be our next inductee into the Drag Race Hall of Fame.
For Nikita, her journey through the competition was just as fun as it appeared on TV—but there was one distinct moment she enjoyed the most. “The makeover challenge was such a highlight for me. It’s something I’ll never forget,” she tells Not Safe For Queers.
More than just a win for Nikita, the makeover challenge allowed her to come to terms with the concept of being fa’afafine. “I didn’t go on to Drag Race thinking that I would come out as fa’afafine,” she begins. “But to be able to have that experience on TV and on Drag Race, like that’s something that I never thought we’d be able to see on the show. So, the fact that it was shown, and the fact that it was so highlighted, and the fact that it was me…it was just so amazing and so beautiful.”
“And to hear Michelle say fa’afafine was just mind-blowing.”
This week, however, marks the lowest point in Nikita’s Drag Race journey. From the very beginning, as Michelle Visage announced that this week’s challenge would be the Roast of Rhys Nicholson, it was clear that Nikita’s spot in the final four may be in jeopardy. And though Lazy Susan very generously placed Nikita second on the ballot, it was like her fate had already been signed, sealed, and delivered.
“I wasn’t surprised at being in the bottom. Like, I obviously had never done a roast before. I don’t sit down and write jokes. So, I was like, okay well let me just learn my words and perform and get ready for that,” she says.
As expected, her performance in the roast did land her in the bottom—but not before she debuted a stunning bridal look on the mainstage, all while poking many a jab at her boyfriend (who she says hadn’t yet put a ring on it).
When asked whether or not that had changed since filming, she laughs, “no, there is no ring on it. But we’re celebrating 10 years in a few months, so I did say on that day I will be engaged. There will be a ring on my finger at the end of that day.”
As the episode comes to an end, Michelle asked the dreaded ‘who should go home tonight and why?’, with Lazy and Nikita both answering very diplomatically (a move which neither Michelle nor the other queens seemed to appreciate).
“We were actually expecting that question last week, so we really weren’t expecting it this week,” she reveals. “So it took me—and it took everyone—by surprise when Michelle asked.”
“But if I were to give them a proper answer, I probably would’ve said Freya [Armani]. Everyone else had a win going into the finale, and even though she obviously had excelled in the last couple of challenges, I just think, looking at the top five, Freya should’ve gone home.”
In the end, however, Nikita and Mandy go head-to-head in a lip sync to Searchin’ by the Young Divas, with Nikita narrowly missing out on a spot in the final four.
“F*cking Mandy, the dumb b*tch,” she laughs. “I was really excited to perform, but she was just that little bit better than me.”
Episodes of Drag Race Down Under Season 4 stream each Friday—only on Stan.