VALENTINA

“My crazy ass has achieved a lot with my fantasy and if I keep on pushing, it’s all gonna come true, like being on the cover of GAY TIMES!” laughs the Miss Congeniality slash fan-favourite contestant of RuPaul’s Drag Race season nine…Valentina. “Did I know this was gonna happen? No. But in my fantasy, I’ve been on the cover of every magazine.”

The Mexican-American drag icon is currently on a high after her gag-worthy photoshoot (look at her, like, hello?), and she’s explaining the true meaning of her ‘fantasy’, which she memorably introduced to fans during her stint on the fourth season of All Stars. “The fantasy is the world you can live in and be taken over by the spirit of delusion,” she tells us in true Valentina, telenovela fashion. “You create these defence mechanisms about life that allows you to continue being happy, because life isn’t as fabulous as I dreamt it, so I’m gonna keep dreaming it until it all comes and meets up with me!” Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it HUNTY – it’s gotten her this far.

Valentina – birth name James Leyva – is one of the most popular drag queens in the world on social media, boasting over 1.3 million Instagram followers (she has a bigger following than most Drag Race winners). She’s also released the Spanish dance-pop anthem A Prueba De Todo – which has amassed over one million Spotify streams – and performed live on Fox to an audience of three million plus, alongside the likes