Aura Mayari

Aura Mayari is the stage name of Jay-R de Leon, a Filipino-American drag performer most known for competing on the fifteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Early life
Jay-R de Leon was born and raised in the Philippines. His family struggled living there and relocated to the United States in 2003, when de Leon was a child. de Leon's family lived in Chicago.

Career


de Leon discovered drag in Chicago. He began performing at Play in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2023, de Leon competed as Aura Mayari on the fifteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She won the girl group challenge and placed eleventh overall. Aura Mayari was eliminated on the seventh episode after placing in the bottom two in an acting challenge, then losing a lip-sync battle against Jax to "Sweetest Pie" (2022) by Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion. Aura Mayari later admitted she had forgotten the lyrics to the song and mouthed gibberish. She also said "lack of sleep and the construction of her runway 'limited' her performance", according to Gay Times.

Queerty's Cameron Scheetz called her time on the show "memorable" and said "she served up some fierce dance moves, sickening runway fashion, and enough 'boy Aura' photos to earn the (self-proclaimed) moniker of the 'horniest queen of the season'". The website also described her as "the world’s premier Filipino-American frat bro turned drag sorority sis". Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly described her as "the trade" of the season.

Personal life
According to Vogue, Aura Mayari is "named after the goddess of the moon and the ruler of the night in Kapampangan mythology". Her name is also inspired by the Filipino gay slang term "awra".

On the season 15 reunion episode, de Leon revealed he is engaged to be married.