It's been almost five years since RuPaul's Drag Race season 9 premiered in 2017. The season left audiences with unforgettable moments, quotes, looks, and performances - but most of all, incredibly talented and versatile contestants.
Since the show, many of the season 9 contestants have been quite active in their careers. While some of them have found more commercial success than others, each queen has found post-Drag Race acclaim in their own ways. From Broadway debuts to self-made companies, the season 9 queens have definitely been busy.
Sasha Velour
Winner of season 9 Sasha Velour has been quite active since their reign as queen. As one of the artsiest queens to ever grace the Drag Race stage, they have created many multi-faceted art pieces and performances since being on the show.
In terms of other television, Velour had a successful show on the now shut-down streaming platform Quibi called Night Gowns in 2020 and has made small appearances in Broad City and The Bold Type. Right now, Velour is getting ready to take their one-woman show "Smoke & Mirrors" on a 2021-2022 tour.
Peppermint
After just barely losing RuPaul's Drag Race, Peppermint went on to have a great career. Most notably, Peppermint became the first out trans woman in a leading role on Broadway when she performed in the musical Head Over Heels and remains active as a trans rights activist.
Today, Peppermint frequently collaborates with Drag Race season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen on videos, podcasts, and live streams that often go viral. Coming later this year, she will be hosting her very own reality drag competition show called Call Me Mother. Peppermint has also made guest appearances in episodes of Pose and Saturday Night Live.
Shea Couleé
The season 9 frontrunner Shea Couleé refused to back down after a shocking loss that season. She went on to compete on Drag Race again for All Stars 5 and ended up besting fellow competitors Jujubee and Miz Cracker and taking home the crown.
On top of being the All Stars 5 winner, Couleé has participated in many Drag Race performance tours since season 9. Couleé can be found in a variety of music videos and celebrity performances, including Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Fashion Show Vol. 2. Currently, they have a podcast called Wanna Be On Top? that discusses the cultural impact of America's Next Top Model.
Trinity Taylor
Trinity Taylor was another queen who made it to the finale of season 9 but fell short during the final lip sync. However, she did return to Drag Race not long after to become the winner of All Stars 4, sharing the title with Monet X Change.
Both on and off the show, Taylor has always been very open about her experience with plastic surgery. Outside of Drag Race, Trinity was the star of her own episode of Botched in which she received an operation on her lips. Taylor has also recently released a music EP titled "Mood Swing."
Alexis Michelle
Alexis Michelle did quite well for herself on season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race making it to fifth place. After Drag Race, Alexis Michelle released her debut album "Lovefool" in 2018 that can be found on all music streaming platforms.
As far as television goes, Alexis can be found in a small role on one episode of the CBS show Blue Bloods. Most recently in 2020, Michelle was a star of the TLC show Dragnificent! along with other Drag Race alumna in which she helped make one bride's wedding as fabulous as can be.
Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Bo'nina Brown was an incredibly entertaining season 9 contestant. On top of her eccentric personality and wildly impressive makeup transformations, Brown was deemed the lip-sync assassin of her season with a memorable showdown between herself and fan-favorite contestant Valentina.
Since Drag Race, Nina Bo'nina Brown has been very active on her YouTube Channel. Her video content includes reviews of RuPaul's Drag Race episodes, gaming streams, makeup tutorials, and much more. She is still creating mind-blowing makeup looks and often shares them on her Instagram.
Valentina
Valentina had a very memorable Drag Race run during season 9. Though she stunned the judges every week, she's likely best remembered for her face mask lip-sync controversy. Regardless, she will surely go down as one of the best Miss Congeniality Winners in Drag Race herstory.
After season 9, Valentina later went on to compete in All Stars 4. Outside of Drag Race though, Valentina has found much success in her film and television career. She has starred in RENT Live, the hit Netflix show House of Flowers, In The Heights, and the animated children's show Drag Tots.
Farrah Moan
Farrah Moan was a fan favorite of season 9, going into the show with a decent following that carried over from her time as an internet celebrity on MySpace. She ended up returning to Drag Race to compete in All Stars 4.
As of late, Farrah Moan has not been very active on social media aside from the occasional, casual Instagram and Twitter posts. Farrah Moan recently cited on her Twitter that she has purposefully stepped away from the public image to work on her mental health.
Aja
At age 22 at the time of filming season 9, Aja was one of the youngest contestants to compete on Drag Race. Though their season 9 journey was undoubtedly memorable, Aja admitted when they returned for All Stars 3 that they were simply not as polished and they'd hoped to be during their original season. Since Drag Race, Aja has had a very active music career. They've released three EPs and two studio albums, the most recent of which titled "Crown" released in 2021.
Cynthia Lee Fontaine
The wildly entertaining Cynthia Lee Fontaine competed on season 9 of Drag Race after an early elimination on the previous season. Her short season 8 stint made her an audience favorite and even earned her the Miss Congeniality title, so fans were ecstatic to learn of her return for season 9.
Today, Cynthia Lee Fontaine still participates in many various live drag performance shows. She is also quite active on nearly every social media platform.
Eureka O'Hara
Eureka O'Hara's first Drag Race appearance was in season 9. After leaving the show due to a knee injury, O'Hara has returned twice to compete in season 10 and All Stars 6. Though Eureka never won a season of Drag Race, she did extremely well in both of her comeback seasons, making it to the final 4 both times.
Most recently, Eureka landed a small role in an episode of American Horror Story. She is also the star of the highly acclaimed television show We're Here with fellow Drag Race alumna Bob The Drag Queen and Shangela.
Charlie Hides
Charlie Hides is still the oldest queen to ever compete on RuPaul's Drag Race. In season 9, she was 52 years old. Hides was also notably one of the first contestants who was a well-known drag performer in both the U.S. and the UK prior to joining the show.
In 2019, Hides found much success leading her live "Drag Queen Bingo" show around the UK and still performs the show today. The English drag queen also used to have a well-established YouTube channel but hasn't posted in about a year.
Kimora Blac
Kimora Blac made her short time on season 9 of Drag Race incredibly memorable with her hilarious commentary, including the time in which she claimed to not know what the word "adjective" meant. Since Drag Race, Kimora Blac has found the most success as the main host of the WOW Presents YouTube series Wait, What? The web show originally debuted in 2018 and is still active today.
Jaymes Mansfield
Despite being eliminated first on season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race, Jaymes Mansfield bounced back from the loss pretty well. Since the show, she has found incredible success in her individual career as a self-proclaimed wig aficionado.
In 2019, James Mansfield founded her own wig-making company and provides stunning wigs for many popular drag queens. Mansfield also has a very successful and active YouTube channel that features lots of wig-related content.