Onya Nurve won RuPaul’s Drag Race this year to rapturous acclaim from fans and the judges. She was truly a star, and she came alive the most when she was doing performance challenges and she was a force to be reckoned with. Not long after Onya Nurve, who out of drag goes by Justin Woody, won Drag Race she was announced to be playing Lola in a national tour of Kinky Boots across the US which was set to start this month. But after fans spotted that she’d quietly been replaced by another cast member, people were wondering what has been going on. Now the show has confirmed that Onya Nurve is no longer part of the tour, so here’s what we know about the situation with the Drag Race winner stepping away from Kinky Boots.
Onya Nurve was so excited to be part of the cast
View this post on Instagram
Posting back in July on her Instagram page, Onya Nurve excitedly wrote “I’m am BEYOND excited and humbled to announce that I’ll be joining the 2025 national tour of Kinky Boots the Musical, as Lola!!
Before RuPaul’s Drag Race, I wanted to be Lola, and now I get to live out both of my dreams at the same damn time. Truly a full circle moment. So excited to continue to learn, grow, and take in every single thing this new chapter has to offer me.”
As recent as October 6th, Onya was still set to be part of Kinky Boots. She wrote in a post then that she was celebrating her last drag show before the big tour. So what shifted?
A fan tweet had everyone concerned
Anyone know what happened with Onya Nurve on the Kinky Boots tour? She was announced as Lola but the site now lists the understudy, and posts with her were removed. Just asking if she was replaced or if there was an update I missed??? pic.twitter.com/fcHiJRp8pg
— GreenGay
(@GreenGayYT) November 15, 2025
After GreenGay asked what was going on with the tour, and why her understudy was now playing Lola and why all posts mentioning Onya Nurve had been removed, everyone started asking the question. Now, in a statement to OUT regarding the Drag Race winner, Kinky Boots gave a statement confirming Onya Nurve was no longer involved in the tour.
The statement read:”On behalf of Kinky Boots on Tour, Justin Woody (Onya Nurve) is no longer with the company. We are thrilled to share that Omari Collins (Scarlett D. Von’Du) will step into the role of Lola. We wish Justin well, and we look forward to bringing Kinky Boots to theatres all across the country.”
Onya Nurve is yet to address it
Onya herself hasn’t posted on Instagram at all in a month – and is yet to comment on the situation. The Tab has reached out directly for comment to Onya’s team.
Whatever’s going on – sending Onya Nurve so much love right now!
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