“RuPaul's Drag Race” winner crowned in season 16 finale: See which queen won

Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, and Sapphira Cristál competed as the main show's first top three since season 8.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 finale.

Winner, winner, chicken (or banana, or burger finger, or delectable six-octave vocal range) dinner: RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 just crowned a new champion!

Friday night's grand finale saw Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, and Sapphira Cristál battle for the crown and a $200,000 check one last time, after 16 hard-fought episodes that included even more shady drama, on-camera clashes, and legendary lip-syncs added to the Drag Race canon.

With help from returning season 15 winner Sasha Colby, the evening ended with Mother RuPaul naming Nymphia as America's Next Drag Superstar, while runner-up Sapphira received a $25,000 prize for her contributions to the competition.

Nymphia fell to her knees when RuPaul announced her name as the winner. Composing herself, she said, "To those who feel like they don't belong, just remember to live fearlessly and have courage to live your truth. And Taiwan, this is for you!"

This marked the first Drag Race finale to include an official top-three roster of finalists since season 8 in 2016. (The season 12 finale consisted of three competitors only after the disqualification of top-four finalist Sherry Pie.)

Earlier in the episode, Plane was eliminated in third place following performances of original numbers from each of the finalists. The Boston native, whose controversial approach to Werk Room sisterhood ruffled plenty of feathers among fans and fellow queens this season, took home $25,000 before sashaying away, leaving Taiwan-raised Nymphia and Philadelphia-based entertainer Sapphira to lip-sync for the crown to Kylie Minogue's 2023 hit "Padam Padam."

The performance was the first time Nymphia engaged in a competitive lip-sync on the season, and she did not disappoint. Following a series of bubble tea-themed reveals (including the stunning release of black "boba" balloons from under her coat, representing tapioca pearls) Nymphia launched into a series of acrobatics as she flitted around the stage. Sapphira, on the other hand, began her performance more subtly, standing in place and emoting the lyrics with a pair of vampire teeth in her mouth.

RuPaul deemed Nymphia the winner of her first and only lip-sync of the season, and she took home $200,000 in winnings as well as the title of America's Next Drag Superstar.

Sapphira and Xunami Muse — drag daughter of the legendary Kandy Muse — made her-story earlier in the night by becoming the first-ever duo to tie for the Miss Congeniality title. The presentation of Miss C also included two $10,000 checks for Sapphira and Xunami, with the rest of the eliminated queens receiving $2,000 tips for their run on season 16.

Last week, Miami's Morphine Love Dion won another secondary season 16 prize when she beat out all of the previously eliminated queens in a lip-sync LaLaPaRuza smackdown for the Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses title and a $50,000 purse.

The festivities fell one year after Sasha won over Anetra in the season 15 finale, having lip-synced to Amii Stewart's "Knock on Wood" in a striptease-style sequence she told Entertainment Weekly was meant as a "f--- you to transphobes" around the world.

"It was a specific choice to be naked in these times. I wanted them to see what they're trying to eradicate," Sasha told EW at the season 15 crowning event in New York City, later adding: "With this legislation and everything happening, for me to represent Drag Race and such a huge conglomerate like MTV and be exactly what [conservatives] want to eradicate is so powerful. I understand the eyes on me, which is why I wanted to be naked. I wanted to normalize this trans body!"

Read our exclusive interview with RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 winner Nymphia Wind, the full audio of which can be on EW's Quick Drag podcast starting Saturday.

Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions from the cast, special guests, and more.

Related content:

• Every winner of RuPaul's Drag Race

• Yvie Oddly reveals favorite Drag Race lip-sync LaLaPaRuza moments: 'Spirit of Ciara entered her tiny white body'

• RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 eliminated queens: See who went home

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.