When the confetti fell on the Season 18 finale of RuPaul's Drag Race, it was Orlando's own Myki Meeks who snatched the crown — and the $200,000 prize that came with it. Now, barely pausing to catch her breath between tour stops, the self-described "gorgeously stupid and stupidly gorgeous" queen is bringing her winning energy to Las Vegas for the Fourth of July weekend, performing at both Piranha Nightclub and Gipsy on what promises to be one of the biggest nights of the year for our community.
"Oh my gosh, I'm a little nervous, to be honest," Meeks told QVegas in an exclusive interview, "because I know how professional the scene is and how much the city loves their drag artists. It's such a big honor — especially with these two clubs that I've heard so much about for so long. It's my first time in Vegas, so I can't wait to be the showgirl I've always wanted to be."
From the Werk Room to the Winner's Circle
Season 18 premiered on MTV on January 2, 2026, introducing fourteen new queens to the competition. Meeks, hailing from Orlando, Florida, was billed by production as a "dynamic theatrical powerhouse" and a "recovering theater kid" — a label she wears with pride. The season's first challenge asked queens to raid the Drag Race vaults and pay tribute to the legends who came before them, setting the tone for a season that would reward craft, charisma, and genuine performance chops.
Meeks delivered all three. Her background in theater — she went to college for it, and started performing as a child — gave her a foundation that many competitors simply don't have. "Theater teaches you how to be comfortable on the stage, how to act out the songs you choose to perform, how to create," she said. "When I started my drag career having that in my back pocket, it helped me skyrocket into the scene more than I would without it."
One moment from her run on the show stood out above all others. "When RuPaul called me a shining star after Snatch Game, I went — I'm set. Even if I went home tomorrow, to get that moment with her just felt amazing." From that point forward, Meeks said, she won every episode.
A Recovering Theater Kid Who Can Also Shake It
Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Meeks grew up near Busch Gardens and the University of South Florida — a college-town kid who knew from the age of seven that the stage was where she belonged. She was performing in musicals before most kids have found their footing socially, including a memorable turn as Batboy in her high school production of the cult musical of the same name.
Her path to drag ran through Orlando, one of the country's most underrated drag cities. "Orlando is home to a lot of legend pageant divas," she noted, rattling off names like Roxy Andrews, Sasha Colby, and Kylie Sonique Love as queens who have called the city home. It's a scene that bridges the worlds of pageantry and comedy, and Meeks found her niche right in that gap.
"There's the Miss Glamorous Newcomer pageant and then there's National Miss Comedy Queen, which is comedy-based. I kind of bridge the gap between both worlds of the glamour and the funny — and I thought that was just a glamorous and funny way to describe myself."
She hosts a weekly show at Southern Nights Orlando where the audience skews 18 to 21, often first-timers to queer nightlife. That responsibility has shaped her politics as much as her performance. "These kids went to high school and middle school during COVID. Their first middle school experience was probably the first Trump administration," she said. "So to give them a place of solace, knowing the community is out there ready for them — that matters."
More Than a Winning Lip Sync
One of the season's most talked-about moments came when Meeks appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show in the middle of the competition — a rare daytime television crossover for an active Drag Race contestant.
"Name another Drag Race queen who got to appear on daytime in the middle of your season," Meeks laughed. "She was just as amazing as you think she would be, and she was down for everything. To be able to do an impersonation in front of someone and have them find it honorable — that's the best feeling. And she said at the end that she needs to come back. So hey, I might become their recurring queen."
Her finale number, an original song called "Versatile," was a deliberate flex. "I wanted to stay in the theatrical world and really show off my vocals," she explained. "I told them I wanted something very inspired by Death Becomes Her and The Drowsy Chaperone. And the entire song is double entendres — I'm just singing a song about being really good at things." She delivered it with the kind of Broadway precision that had defined her run from the start.
What Las Vegas Is Getting
Meeks arrives in the city knowing that Piranha and Gipsy each carry their own distinct energy, and she's ready to read the room at both.
"I always like to tailor my numbers to what the environment is calling for," she said. "I can give the club performance. I can give more of a stage theatrical performance if needed. Gipsy is more like Vegas glam — your showgirl moment, your theater, your ballads. And then Piranha is more like skin, sexy, flips, splits, tricks. And if that just means wearing a giant breastplate and shaking it, I can do that too."
She's been on the road since the season wrapped, touring as part of the Kitty Cat Ball Tour alongside fellow Season 18 top-four queens Nini Coco, Juicy Love Dion, and Darlene Mitchell, hosted by Neria Paris Vavan Michaels. By the time she hits Las Vegas, they'll have played ten cities across the country.
"Getting to meet all the fans and touring as a cast has just been the best part," she said. "The online response is not real life. The people who show up to the shows are the ones you should be working for and creating art for, because they're the ones who understand drag outside of a TV show."
The Message Behind the Crown
Meeks is clear-eyed about what it means to be the most visible drag queen in the world right now, at a moment when the art form is under coordinated political and legal attack across the country.
"We're here, and we're not going anywhere. This has been true for decades. And if they're scared of people in wigs, they need to look inward — because that's really troubling."
She's also thinking about the longer arc. "We're in this weird era where they're trying to shove artificial intelligence down our throats, and it's made me more inspired to pursue art at its fullest — because that's what's going to stand the test of time. I may not be intelligent, but at least I'm all real, baby."
A year from now, when she hands off the crown, she wants the next winner to inherit something specific. "People are really desperate for strong queer representation in the mainstream. I read the comments on the Drew Barrymore YouTube video and they were all pretty amazing. Once we get out of this rough time, I think what we do as artists — not just as drag queens but as queer artists — we're going to be seen even more than before."
For now, though, the crown is hers. And Las Vegas is about to find out what it means to be inherited.
Myki Meeks performs at Piranha Nightclub and Gipsy on July 4th weekend. Follow her at @myki.meeks on Instagram and TikTok. Visit mykimeeks.com for tour dates and merch.