Drag Race Season 18 Winner Myki Meeks on Her Rocky Road to the Crown
Another queen has been crowned the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. Myki Meeks is America’s Next Drag Superstar, and she told Newsweek she’s still coming down from the high. With her runner-up Nini Coco delivering what many are already calling the greatest finale lip sync in the show’s history, season 18 ended with the kind of drama, artistry and emotion that reminded everyone why RuPaul’s Drag Race still matters. Both queens sat down with Newsweek to break down the season, the journey and what comes next.
What the edit couldn’t fully capture was just how close it came to going a very different way.
When Myki Meeks walked into the Drag Race werkroom, she wasn’t exactly lighting the competition on fire. She was finding her footing, publicly, on television, in front of millions. It’s the kind of arc that makes for great TV, sure, but for the queen living it, it was a wake-up call.
“It took me seeing how the other queens were performing and then being placed in the bottom to snap me back into reality,” Meeks told Newsweek. “I’m Mikey MF Meeks. I know what I’m worth and what I can do and I need to bring it full throttle every single time.”
She did. From that point forward, Myki was in the top nearly every week, turning the season into something that felt almost inevitable in hindsight, but absolutely wasn’t at the time. That’s the thing about a redemption arc: it only works if the fall was real.
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said. “Maybe less character shoes on some runways, but other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing," she said laughing.
(The shoes, for the record, were a whole thing this season. Myki’s words: “It’s the season of the shoes.”)
Now she has the crown, the title and a city behind her. Myki has lived in Orlando for 12 years, a city she describes as a “powerhouse” and a “blue dot in a sea of red," and she’s been clear from the start that her win belongs to more than just her.
“Being on the show was a win for my community,” she said. “Every win I got was for them as well, because they’re the ones who raised me.”
That sense of community-of drag as something built collectively, not individually-runs through both queens’ reflections on the season. Nini Coco, Denver’s own, echoed that same sentiment when talking about what it takes to even get to the Drag Race stage.
“Most queens have an experience in a local drag community,” Coco told Newsweek. “It is the most welcoming, affirming place to experiment and try art. You will immediately find a community of other artists who are ready to support you and share their experience.”
Coco’s finale lip sync, which has been circulating online with people calling it one of the best performances in the show’s history, was the kind of moment that felt both spontaneous and deeply intentional. She described watching it back almost like watching a stranger.
“I am surprised by what I did,” she said. “Drag, the reason I love drag is because I consistently surprise myself and that was another moment where I said, ‘Whoa, I didn’t even know you could do all of that.'”
She was quick to add: “I only had a minute and a half. You give me a bigger container, I will fill it.”
Both Myki and Nini leave season 18 with something more valuable than a crown or a runner-up title: a clearer sense of self. For Myki, that means honing in on what makes her her, moving past the “actress taking on roles” and finding a more definitive aesthetic. For Nini, it means trusting her gut, making bold choices and not shrinking.
“The girls who were consistently just making choices and taking big swings are the people who stand out,” Coco said. “I watch moments where I was shrinking and that’s when I think I was failing.”
As for what Myki wants her reign to mean? She put it simply: “Joy beats out any other type of negative energy.”
Season 18 proved that: loudly, fiercely and sometimes in questionable shoes.
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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 2:46 PM.