Valentina

Biography

Valentina Xunaxi Leyva (born May 14, 1991), better known mononymously as Valentina, is an American drag performer, actress, television personality and singer who came to international fame as a contestant on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. In 2023, she co-hosted season one of Drag Race México alongside Lolita Banana.

== Early life == Valentina was born in Bell, California, to Mexican parents and grew up Catholic. She began working as a drag queen around ten months before filming RuPaul's Drag Race, although she already had a background in fashion and the performing arts. Leyva chose to go by "Valentina" in drag after the hot sauce of the same name. Valentina is known for using her drag as a way to represent Latin American culture on stage and make drag more accepted in Latin American culture.

== Career ==

=== Dragula === In 2015, Valentina won an early club version of the Boulet Brothers's Dragula contest, a precursor of the television show.

=== Rupaul's Drag Race (Season 9) ===

==== Announcement ==== On February 2, 2017, Valentina was announced as one of fourteen contestants competing for the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

==== "Oh. My. Gaga." Season 9 Episode 1 ==== In the First Episode of the season, "Oh. My. Gaga.", Valentina introduced herself to the RuPaul's Drag Race fandom wearing a red dress, red and gold jewelry and a wig with two large red roses in it. During the "Miss Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent Pageant" in the Hometown runway portion in the first episode of the season, Valentina paid tribute to her Mexican heritage by wearing a Mariachi inspired leotard with chaps and a sombrero with gold embellishments on the entire outfit. The Mariachi is significant in Mexican culture as a symbol of Mexican Nationalism and tradition. Mariachi is composed of a 12-person band that plays a variety of string and some brass music and an accordion. A Mariachi band is usually composed of men, so Valentina's choice to portray herself as a female Mariachi is not as widely portrayed in Mexican Nationalist Culture. As well as being a band, Mariachi is a mythic symbol of culture in Mexico and the Southwest United States.

==== "She Done Already Done Brought It On" Season 9 Episode 2 ==== During the second episode of the Ninth season, "She Done Already Done Brought It On", Valentina was seen praying to a Virgin of Guadalupe candle before the Cheerleading Maxi-challenge that episode. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a symbol of the merging of Mexican and Native American cultures. She is an important symbol of the culture in Mexican and Mexican-American communities and within the Catholic church. For the "White Party Realness" runway that episode, Valentina wore a white floral wedding gown inspired by her mother, stating she was the most beautiful bride in her village in Mexico. She won that episode's Maxi-Challenge wearing her hair in a bun, topped with flowers, and bouquet in her hands, embodying classic Mexican cultural fashion.