A 28-year-old Aucklander is sharing her monstrous talent with the world. Tāmaki Makaurau's own Yuri (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) could be 'The World's Next Drag Supermonster'. Yuri is one of 12 contestants in the upcoming season of the horror-themed American competition show The Boulet Brothers' Dragula.
She is the first-ever Australasian to have competed on the show. The drag artist said the experience was daunting, but she was proud to have represented Aotearoa and her Māori heritage. "I had to do things I never thought I'd have to do in my life.
"But I got to show off my art and represent people who aren't always represented on a global stage." Yuri started exploring makeup and fashion from a young age. "Growing up I would play with my sister's makeup and alter my clothes - anything I could do creatively.
" She was inspired to get into drag after seeing drag queen DeeDee Vine on Karanaghape Road. "I thought 'wow that's amazing, I want to try doing this'." Yuri competed on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under in 2022, which was won by Spankie Jackzon.
At the time she was studying fashion design at university, but dropped out to appear on the show, where she came in sixth place. She is the second person to appear on both Drag Race and now Dragula. Yuri said Dragula reached out to invite her to be on the show's sixth season (which it is calling season 666).
She jumped at the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles to film Dragula, but she said preparing for the sho.