Valentina Xunaxi Leyva doesn’t do anything halfway. Whether she’s serving you a death drop in heels that cost more than your rent or hosting a version of RuPaul’s Drag Race for an entire Spanish-speaking continent, Valentina commits to the bit — and the bit commits back.
And now, in July 2026, she’s finally made it official: Valentina is coming to Broadway. The legendary drag performer, who burst onto the mainstream consciousness during Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race (2017), has secured the iconic role of Columbia in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show. For a queen who has spent nearly a decade in the public eye, building an empire from drag performance to television, to fashion commentary, this isn’t just a career move. It’s a coronation.
The Rise of Valentina: From Southeast LA to Your Eyeballs
Before Valentina was Valentina the drag superstar, she was a girl from Southeast Los Angeles with a vision and a dream — and more importantly, impeccable taste. Competing on Season 9 of Drag Race at just 20 years old, she wasn’t the youngest (and definitely didn’t have the most wins), but she possessed something that would define her entire career: an ability to make every single moment about her. She understood the assignment before the assignment understood itself.
Yes, she was voted Miss Congeniality that season. But here’s the thing about Valentina: Miss Congeniality was never really what she was going for. She was going for legend status, and she’s been working toward it ever since.
Valentina: The Brand That Wouldn’t Quit
Since that iconic season, Valentina has done the impossible: she’s stayed relevant in an industry where queens are replaced every season like iPhones. She built a successful drag career in Los Angeles, performed internationally, landed acting roles, and most impressively, became one of the key figures in bringing RuPaul’s Drag Race to the Spanish-speaking world as a co-host and cultural ambassador for Drag Race: Mexico — a responsibility she took seriously because Valentina doesn’t take anything lightly.
Her fashion sense — that mix of high glamour, camp, and pure confidence — became iconic. Her mug is instantly recognizable. Her work ethic is legendary. And perhaps most importantly, her ability to connect with her audience, whether that’s a club in LA, a television audience, or millions of Latin American viewers, is unmatched.
Broadway: The Final Form
So when news broke in July 2026 that Valentina had been cast as Columbia in the Rocky Horror Show revival, longtime fans weren’t shocked. We were satisfied. Of course Valentina is ready for Broadway. Of course she’s been ready. The real question was when the rest of the world would catch up.
Columbia — that leather-clad, whip-wielding, aggressively sexual devotee of Dr. Frank N. Furter — is one of the most iconic supporting roles in musical theatre history. It requires presence, physicality, confidence, and an understanding of camp as high art. In other words, it’s basically the role Valentina has been auditioning for her entire career.
Playing Columbia means eight shows a week of proving, night after night, that drag isn’t just club performance. It’s legitimate theatrical artistry. It’s demanding, it’s rigorous, and it’s something Valentina has already proven she can handle. She’s hosted a major franchise, navigated the politics of television, stayed relevant through industry shifts, and maintained her integrity as an artist while becoming a mainstream figure.
What Valentina on Broadway Means
Valentina’s casting is significant for a lot of reasons, but here’s the biggest one: it’s normal now. A drag queen landing a major Broadway role in 2026 isn’t shocking — it’s expected. The line between drag performance and mainstream entertainment has dissolved, and artists like Valentina are why.
She opened doors. She stayed in the room. She kept her star bright even when the cameras weren’t on her, working smaller shows, building real community, and proving that drag is a legitimate art form worth taking seriously. And now? Now she gets to do it on one of the most prestigious stages in the world, eight times a week, in a role that demands everything she has to give.
If there’s anyone who thrives when the stakes are this high, who gets better when the pressure increases, who doesn’t just rise to the occasion but makes the occasion rise to meet her — it’s Valentina.
The Princess of Southeast LA is now the Duchess of Broadway. And honestly? We’re not even surprised.
Valentina stars as Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show, now playing on Broadway. Long live the queen.
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