It’s Ashley… Just Ashley.
Once upon a makeover challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16, Plane Jane was paired up with creative director, photographer, and dancer Nick Lemmer. Together, they brought to life one of the most sickening makeover transformations in Drag Race herstory: Lazi Susan.
And yet, the time has come for Lazi Susan to sashay away, as Lemmer returns to the art form of drag as a brand-new persona… Ashley.
On Friday, October 10, Ashley performed at Gipsy Nightclub in Las Vegas alongside several other Drag Race superstars — including Lazi’s drag mother, Plane Jane. Immediately after her performance to a medley of Slut Pop by Kim Petras, Ashley launched her official social media presence, and fans can already start following the newest drag diva in the queendom at @aaaaaaashleyyyyyyy.
“IT’S ASHLEY BITCH,” one caption read.
Lemmer wrote in another post, “2 years ago a monster was born. Tonight a new era begins, welcome to the stage ASHLEY!”
Lemmer has been teasing this drag comeback for some time now.
For instance, Lemmer shared a poster of tonight’s performance at Gipsy along with Plane Jane, as well as a video of himself shaving everything off.
On Thursday, October 9, Lemmer even shared a photo teasing Ashley’s arrival by showing off her mysterious silhouette.
“Tomorrow, she’s back,” the caption read.
But the actual clues go all the way back to the most recent episodes of Lemmer’s web series, The Loverboy Diaries, which was seemingly set to end back in May with episode 6… But didn’t.
A casual kitchen moment to end the sixth episode suddenly became a scene where Lemmer came face to face with a variant version of himself, which popped up out of thin air and confronted him about what he wanted to do next.
“Yeah, yeah. Life’s short. Be happy,” the Lemmer variant taunted the original. “You know what? Monetize your trauma instead of going to therapy. But I can't help but think about something you mentioned in episode 2.”
(For a few seconds, viewers were transported back to that second episode, when Lemmer won the 2024 WOWIE Award for Dominant Dancing Diva at RuPaul’s DragCon and was asked by Ts Madison if he enjoyed being his alter ego, Lazi Susan, at times. “Hell yeah, I do,” Lemmer replied. “And she's coming back.”)
As the the episode brought viewers back to the kitchen, the original Lemmer asked his variant, “What about it?”
“Well, is Lazi Susan coming back, or what?” the variant responded.
While Lemmer searched for an answer to that question, music started playing, and the next shot showed viewers a mouth — just a mouth — putting on lipstick.
“Okay,” Lemmer’s voice narrated, “so maybe there's one more episode.”
Watch the final minutes of The Loverboy Diaries episode 6 below — and stay tuned for the series’ upcoming season finale, coming soon to YouTube.
And make sure you don’t forget:
It’s Ashley now… Just Ashley.
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