The RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 Winner Shares Her Future Plans

It all came down to Cher. To wrap what Kerri Colby has called the most “trans-tastic” season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, five finalists — Angeria Paris VanMichaels, Daya Betty, Lady Camden, Willow Pill, and Bosco — produced showgirl-inspired performances designed to flaunt their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent for the judges. Only two queens prevailed to the end, and Lady Camden and Willow Pill’s lip-sync to “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” thunderously brought the finale to a close. Ultimately, Willow Pill was crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14, but she didn’t know that until the finale aired on April 22, several days after it was filmed.

At the finale taping in Las Vegas in mid-April, Willow opened up about the possibility of taking home the crown, and that $150,000 cash prize. “I would love to make really twisted, fun art,” she told Elite Daily. “I love to see the Drag Race girls kind of branch out of what drag is supposed to always be. I want to branch out and try some weird sh*t. If it fails, it fails, and if it’s amazing, it’s amazing.”

Delivering bizarre, chaotic art is precisely what Willow did all season, from tossing herself into a bathtub filled with spaghetti and a toaster to dressing up like fungus deity and a rat princess. Despite battling a chronic illness called Cystinosis, a rare genetic disorder that can cause kidney failure and muscle atrophy, Willow maintained a positive disposition during her run. For that, Willow quickly became a fan favorite, receiving praise on social media each week.

“I did not really expect that to happen, especially because I’m a very quiet person,” Willow said. “I thought, ‘Oh, I think my quietness could maybe turn some people off. But I think when I do have something to say it’s either wise or it’s very trivial and dumb, and people connect to both of those things. It’s been fantastic to have the world have my back.”

About halfway through Season 14, Willow experienced another surge of fan support after she expressed her trans femme gender identity in an emotional Instagram post. “I knew that episode of Untucked was coming, where I was gonna talk about my gender identity, so I wanted to have it come from my words as well, so nothing gets twisted,” Willow said. “I started writing something weeks ahead and reflecting on the last 27 years that I’ve been alive. I wanted to be honest, and my honest truth was that I don’t always know exactly where I’m at yet. But I know that I’m starting to push myself more … and it feels really right.”

In coming out, Willow joined a historic cast of trans-identifying Season 14 queens that includes Kerri Colby, Jasmine Kennedie, Kornbread Jeté, and Bosco. The camaraderie she’s found with her sisters is something she doesn’t plan to take for granted as America’s Next Drag Superstar. The best part of being on the show? “By far, and this is a cheesy answer, but all the other girls. I love these girls. We get together and we cook and hang out and travel,” Willow said. “They make my life so much better.”