Naysha Lopez

Naysha Lopez is the stage name of drag performer and beauty pageant winner Fabian Rodriguez (born June 20, 1984), who won the 2013 Miss Continental competition and appeared on the eighth seasons of both RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.

Career After competing on the beauty pageant circuit, Naysha Lopez won the 2013 Miss Continental competition.

Naysha Lopez competed on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2016, after building a drag career in Puerto Rico and Chicago. She was the first queen eliminated, losing the lip sync battle to "Applause" by Lady Gaga against Laila McQueen. Naysha was quickly brought back to the show for ep. 3 after a lackluster performance on ep. 2 by McQueen and Dax ExclamationPoint resulted in their dual-elimination; Naysha subsequently placed in the bottom two again and lost another lipsync, this time against Chi Chi DeVayne to Blondie's "Call Me", and became the fourth queen on the show to be eliminated twice in the same season (after Carmen Carrera, Kenya Michaels, and Trixie Mattel). Queerty's Timothy Allen said she was "one of the most beautiful queens to ever compete on the show". Similarly, Michael Cook of South Florida Gay News said she was "arguably one of the most stunningly gorgeous queens to ever stomp the runway" on the series, to date.

At RuPaul's DragCon LA convention in 2018, Naysha Lopez and Tempest DuJour tied for "fan favorite" in the “RuPaul's DragCon Pageant”, an event where "queens who were eliminated first on their seasons battled it out for the crowd", according to Patrick Crowley of Billboard magazine.

In 2021, Rodriguez was first runner-up in the Mr. Continental competition, winning in the swimsuit category.

In 2022, Naysha Lopez was among a group of drag queens who performed on-stage with Jennifer Lopez at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The performance was a "full-circle" moment for Naysha, as she has repeatedly expressed admiration for Lopez as an artist, performer and businesswoman on many occasions, posting on Instagram in 2019: "Jennifer Lopez will always be a huge inspiration for me and my drag. Her take on Fashion and work ethic is like no other." In 2023, she returned and competed on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, ultimately being eliminated on episode 2 after she placed in the bottom two contestants, alongside Kahanna Montrese. The surprise lip-sync "assassin" of the episode, Thai drag performer Pangina Heals, won in a lip-sync against challenge winner Jimbo to Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop", and, as she received the majority of the votes to be eliminated from the safe queens, Naysha was sent home, placing eleventh out of twelve queens.

Personal life Rodriguez has a working class background, and is a licensed cosmetologist. He spent most of his life in Chicago, attending Lane Tech College Prep High School (graduating class of 2002), and, in 2023, was living on the city's Northwest Side and working in Lake View, also known as Boystown. She also lived in Belmont Cragin, in 2016, and Elmwood Park, Illinois.

As Naysha Lopez, Rodriguez hosts a popular weekly viewing party for RuPaul’s Drag Race, live-streamed from Chicago gay bar Roscoe's Tavern on YouTube. Along with co-hosts Kara Mel and Batty Davis, the event features anywhere from 2-4 guests, usually other queens from the show, as well as occasional judges from the series or other media personalities. Other guests at Roscoe's have included contestants and winners from Canada's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race UK. The group gives intermittent commentary during and after the episode, with behind-the-scenes gossip and information often being revealed, hence there is a strict no-filming policy at the bar.

Naysha Lopez is a member of the House of Hall, a drag family headed by pageantry icon Tajma Hall (1970–2014), which includes fellow Drag Race contestants DiDa Ritz (season 4), Jaida Essence Hall (season 12 winner) and Kahmora Hall (season 13).

As of 2024, Rodriguez is currently residing in Los Angeles, explaining in a podcast interview with fellow Drag Race alum Delta Work that he values the position hosting the viewing parties at Roscoe's Tavern (in Chicago) so much that he travels weekly between California and Illinois, stating: "I do my thing every week, and I have one of the best jobs, ever…Roscoe's has really stepped-up and shown appreciation for their talent." Rodriguez is currently dating Jason Hughes.

Discography Singles As featured artist +TitleYearAlbum"Money, Success, Fame, Glamour" 2023

Filmography Television + List of television credits Year Title Role Notes 2016 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 8) Herself/Contestant 9th place RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked 2018 The Jam Herself Guest 2023 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (season 8) Herself/Contestant 11th Place RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked

Web series