A new book is spilling all the tea about the ins and outs of producing the Emmy-winning reality drag competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The book, entitled And Don’t F&%k It Up: An Oral History of RuPaul’s Drag Race (The First Ten Years), was written by Maria Elena Fernandez and includes quotes from producers and past contestants. One of the stories explored in the book is about Valentina’s infamous masked lip sync (to Ariana Grande's "Greedy") in the ninth season of Drag Race, which culminated in her elimination for not knowing the words.
According to Shea Couleé, who competed in season nine, the queens were just as confused as everyone else once the lip sync song started and Valentina kept her mask on. Couleé explained:
“I remember the music starting. About 30 seconds in, I felt everyone started looking side to side at one another. ‘Is she gonna leave that on? Or is she gonna take that off?’ Then I could see Michelle turning to Ru, and I could see the crew looking at one another.”
Tension was also running high behind the scenes according to World of Wonder executive producer Randy Barbato. He revealed in the book:
“The producer in me was happy for it to play out a little, but [we knew that we] were going to have to stop this, and Ru [was] going to know how. It was bitter-sweet because we love Valentina. I thought it was a stunt. But there were indications backstage that maybe she wasn’t prepared.”
Since that lip sync, Valentina returned to compete on All Stars 4 and definitely got her lip sync redemption moment with another Ariana Grande song ("Into You"). Though she didn’t win that season, Valentina has gone on to star in multiple projects such as Rent: Live, In the Heights, The House of Flowers, and La Usurpadora: The Musical.
As of 2023, Valentina is set to host and judge the first season of Drag Race México alongside Lolita Banana. Needless to say, this fan-favorite is doing just fine!
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8 airs Fridays on Paramount+.