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Nick Lemmer Unmasks: Drag, Death, and Rebirth in the Queer Spotlight
READ TIME: 17 MIN.
If you’re a queer pop culture devotee, you know the feeling: a beloved drag persona struts into our lives, snatches our wigs, then leaves us gasping when the curtain falls. Nick Lemmer, the heartthrob of RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!, just delivered one of drag’s most dramatic exits yet. In a candid and cheeky sit-down with Out Magazine, Lemmer revealed what it’s like to “kill” Lazi Susan—his quick-witted, crowd-pleasing, and now officially retired drag alter ego—during the season finale of The Loverboy Diaries. “Buh-bye, Lazi!” proclaimed Out, echoing the bittersweet farewell rippling through the fandom .
There’s more to this than just another drag “death drop.” For Lemmer, the end of Lazi Susan is both a personal metamorphosis and a statement about the ephemeral magic of drag itself. “Drag is about transformation—sometimes that means letting go, even of the parts of ourselves we love most,” Lemmer confessed in the interview, underscoring how drag can be both armor and vulnerability .
But where some queens cling to their signature moves, Lemmer is already sashaying forward. Enter: Ashley, his “sickening new drag persona,” who’s already turning heads. With Ashley, Lemmer leans into a bolder, more irreverent vision—one that riffs on camp, glamour, and queer resilience in equal measure. “If Lazi was my love letter to the classics, Ashley is my TikTok draft folder—unfiltered, a little ridiculous, and totally now,” Lemmer joked, demonstrating the playful self-awareness that’s cemented his status as a Drag Race darling .
This quicksilver reinvention is more than a personal rebrand. It’s a nod to the ways drag—and queer creativity writ large—thrives on surprise, subversion, and the refusal to be boxed in.
Lemmer’s bold slaying of Lazi Susan resonates deeply with queer audiences who have lived through a cultural moment where our icons, safe spaces, and even identities can feel precarious. Drag, after all, is an art form built on the tension between persona and reality, between fleeting stage moments and the real-life struggles they echo. “The world is just going to be so different without her,” said Lemmer of Lazi Susan, channeling the bittersweet energy that makes drag both celebration and catharsis .
In queer history, the act of saying goodbye—be it to a persona, a bar, or a chosen family member—often becomes a theatrical ritual of mourning and rebirth. Lemmer’s willingness to let Lazi Susan go in front of the cameras is a love letter to that process, a campy and courageous meditation on letting go, moving forward, and honoring what came before.
Lemmer’s journey also reflects the evolution of drag storytelling itself. The season finale of The Loverboy Diaries, where Lazi Susan makes her final, show-stopping exit, is more than just TV drama—it’s a meta-commentary on the shifting narratives of queer art in mainstream media. By choosing to “kill” his own creation, Lemmer reminds us that queer joy and pain are always intertwined, that endings can be beginnings, and that the only real constant in queer life is the audacity to keep reinventing ourselves .
And let’s not forget the “tea” Lemmer spilled about the behind-the-scenes chaos. The actor credits his Drag Race family, especially bestie Miles Heizer (“my soulmate!”), for the courage to take these risks, and hints at a future where Ashley may out-camp even Lazi Susan. “This isn’t just about me in a wig—it’s about queer people everywhere seeing that reinvention isn’t just possible, it’s necessary,” Lemmer told Out.
As queer fans process the end of Lazi Susan and the birth of Ashley, Lemmer’s journey stands as a microcosm of the community’s ongoing resilience and creativity. In 2025, when drag is both fiercely political and gloriously playful, Lemmer’s latest moves remind us that the art—and heart—of queer performance is in never standing still.
So, here’s to the queens who sashay away, the personas we mourn, and the fierce new selves waiting in the wings. Buh-bye, Lazi. Welcome to the stage, Ashley. The show goes on—and it’s never looked more fabulous.
