Facebook · IMDB · Instagram · TheMovieDB.com · TV Maze · X (Twitter)

Actor

1993-08-22 · Denver, Colorado, U.S. · Other

7 series in the catalog

Jovan Jordan Bridges (born August 22, 1993), known by the stage name Yvie Oddly, is an American drag queen, performer, fashion designer, rapper, and recording artist from Denver, Colorado, who came to international attention in 2019 when she won the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She later returned to compete on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, an all-winners season, in 2022. Yvie Oddly has been on the worldwide Werq the World drag concert tour since 2019. In addition to music videos and performances, she explores what she sees as a transformative power of drag by making thrift store finds into wearable art in Yvie Oddly's Oddities series on WOW Presents Plus. She released her debut album, Drag Trap, in 2020.

On June 19, 2024, Yvie Oddly released their biography, All About Yvie: Into The Oddity, which became a USA Today Best Seller. The book is co-written by Michael Bach.

Early life and education

Jovan Bridges was born on August 22, 1993, in Denver, Colorado. As a child, she played with her mother's makeup and dressed in her sister's clothes, "When I was a six-year-old boy playing dress-up in my sister's tutus and makeup, my parents were like, 'Take that off.' And I was like, 'Why?' I felt pretty and I'd sleep in a skirt every night." She participated in gymnastics and other strenuous extracurricular activities until she was diagnosed with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome at age fifteen. She began musical theatre as an alternative.

Bridges describes her first exposure to drag as taking place in middle school, when a classmate dressed up as a hooker for Halloween and attracted significant attention. The following Halloween, Bridges dressed as a hooker and enjoyed both her peers' shock and admiration. Bridges attended East High School, and went to college at the Auraria Campus, both in Denver.

Early career

Yvie Oddly started her career as Avon Eve, performing for her first time at the Center in Denver, CO. before moving on to performing at Broadways Bar in a show hosted by Mile High Pinky Pie.

Yvie Oddly started doing drag during college in 2012 when Venus D'lite from RuPaul's Drag Race hosted a workshop on the college campus for Valentine's Day, stating that she "attempted some drag (or ghost) makeup, put on a super-cheap red wig and dress, and backflipped my way through "Scheiße" by Lady Gaga". Her first performances were at Denver's gay bar Tracks. The name 'Yvie Oddly' came from her pun to express "being even odder than anybody else".

Yvie Oddly was the winner of the Ultimate Queen of Denver pageant in 2015. Later that summer, Yvie Oddly became a cast member of Drag Nation; opened for pop star Mya on the Main Stage for PrideFest; and performed in Bohemia's The Prohibition of Lust. She was also in the music video for Adore Delano's "Negative Nancy" in 2017.

In 2018, Yvie Oddly was both the manager at her Denver home drag bar as well as a drag queen, and was looking to transform her drag into a full-time job. She felt the time to make a drastic life change was imminent even if her audition tape did not get her onto RuPaul's Drag Race.

RuPaul's Drag Race

Bridges was announced as a contestant on the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race in January 2019 after applying to compete three times. They were the second performer from Denver to compete on the series, following fellow contestant Nina Flowers. Bridges later said the competition was an isolating experience because contestants were unable to communicate with friends or family during filming.

Throughout the 2019 competition, Bridges became known for unconventional runway presentations, physically demanding lip sync performances, and an outspoken personality. Bridges said they entered the competition hoping to challenge what they saw as increasingly formulaic expectations of drag and to emphasize the art form's queer origins.

During the season, Bridges won the second main challenge alongside fellow contestant Scarlet Envy. They spent six consecutive weeks placing among the top performers in the competition. One of the defining moments of the season came during the Snatch Game episode, when Bridges and fellow contestant Brooke Lynn Hytes both landed in the bottom two before lip-syncing to Demi Lovato's "Sorry Not Sorry". The performance received widespread critical acclaim, and RuPaul departed from the competition's usual format by allowing both contestants to remain in the competition.

During the televised competition, Bridges also spoke publicly about living with hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, explaining that the condition affected joint stability and chronic pain while performing.

Bridges advanced to the live finale, held at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, where they defeated A'keria C. Davenport in a lip sync to Rihanna's "SOS" before facing Brooke Lynn Hytes in the final performance to Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory". On May 30, 2019, Bridges was crowned the winner of the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and named "America's Next Drag Superstar".

Bridges returned to the franchise as a guest "Lip Sync Assassin" on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2020. In 2022, they competed on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, the franchise's first all-winners competition.

Music

Following her victory on RuPaul's Drag Race in 2019, Bridges began releasing original music alongside her live performances. Her earliest releases included the singles "Weirdo", recorded with rapper Cazwell and Craig C., and "Dolla Store", both released in 2019. Bridges also appeared as a featured artist on recordings including drag performer Honey Davenport's "Stan for You" and the cast recording of RuPaul's "Queens Everywhere".

In 2020, Bridges released the debut studio album Drag Trap through Voss Events. The album included the singles "Giggling", "Hype", featuring drag performer Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, and the title track "Drag Trap", featuring rapper Neurotika Killz.. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when live touring largely paused, Bridges said the break allowed more time to develop creative concepts for music and video projects at home.

Bridges has also appeared in and directed music videos. Before competing on RuPaul's Drag Race, Bridges appeared in videos by drag performers Sharon Needles and Adore Delano. Bridges later directed the videos for "Drag Trap" and "Watermelon Bubblegum". After the release of Drag Trap, Bridges continued recording collaborative singles and guest appearances, including "Attention" with singer Miss Madeline, the "Winner Winner (Chicken Dinner Remix)" with drag performers BeBe Zahara Benet and Shea Couleé, and "Energy" with musician Josh Lumsden. Bridges also appeared on the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise recordings "Queens Everywhere" (2019) and "Legends" (2022).

Touring and live performances

In 2019, Bridges joined the North American leg of the Werq the World tour, an international drag concert tour hosted by Michelle Visage and featuring performers from the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise. The North American tour visited seventeen cities, including five in Canada, before continuing later that year to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

In June 2019, Bridges performed at Denver PrideFest, the city's annual LGBTQ pride festival, and hosted Drag Nation at Tracks, their home venue. Later that month, they made their first performance in the United Kingdom at DYMK in Bournemouth. During Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019, Bridges performed at the Opening Ceremony benefiting the Ali Forney Center, Immigration Equality, and Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), before also appearing at the LadyLand Festival.

In September 2019, Bridges joined the rotating cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

Bridges said hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (hEDS) required them to adapt their performances as their career expanded. They also limited post-show photo opportunities to conserve energy while…