When Thomas Fonua was 16, he had to choose between a professional rugby career or a life of dance — it was a decision that would change his life and see him become the first Pasifika queen on the hit show RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under.
He could either play for the New Zealand men's under-19 rugby team, the first step towards becoming an All Black — or he could join Black Grace, New Zealand's premier contemporary dance company.Loading...
It was a difficult experience for the 16-year-old from South Auckland, moving away from family and onto the road where the next youngest member of the group was 24 and the oldest was 42. It wasn't a vacation and there were no resorts. It's a humbling experience, Fonua said. A "grounding".But this trip was going to be very different. Months of performing in Germany, far from everything he had ever known."I remember not really processing that I was going away from my mum until she was driving me to the airport, and I remember having this massive meltdown in the car, just freaking out because I knew that I was going away from her," Fonua said.
On his first night in drag, Fonua said he thought he looked like Beyonce — but instead "looked more like Beyonce's dad, who has been hit by a truck and has been decomposing for about five years". "I had to ... take the opportunity to really represent not only my culture but to speak for the communities that are really overlooked within our queer community.
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