Tatianna
Joseph Michael "Joey" Santolini, better known by his stage name Tatianna, is an American drag queen, musician, and reality television personality from Washington, D.C. He is best known for competing on the RuPaul's [Drag Race (season 2)|second season] of RuPaul's Drag Race and later the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. She released her debut album, T1, in 2018.
Early life
Santolini was born on December 1, 1987 in Arlington, Virginia. He is of Italian and African American descent. He originally attended Yorktown High School, but moved to Falls Church High School after his freshman year due to bullying. He received a license in cosmetology after his senior year in high school, from where he graduated in 2006. He started dressing as a girl when he was fourteen, occasionally attended school in drag, and started drag professionally in 2007; his first show was performed at Apex, a gay bar in Washington D.C. He originally applied for season one of Drag Race, but was rejected at the time. At the time of the cast reveal of Drag Race, he was residing in Falls Church with his grandparents, working at a hair salon in Arlington, and corresponding with his mother and stepfather, who were then living in Florida.Career
Tatianna was announced as one of twelve contestants for the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race in November 2009. During the show, she won the first edition of the annual "Snatch Game" challenge, playing Britney Spears in episode four. She overall placed fourth in the competition after losing a lip sync of Aretha Franklin's "Something He Can Feel" to competitor Jujubee. Six years later, she was selected as one of ten contestants for the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, which was announced on June 17, 2016. She placed in the top two in the first episode, but lost a lip sync to Roxxxy Andrews. She was controversially eliminated by Alaska the following episode after placing in the bottom for his second snatch game as Ariana Grande. She returned in episode five and won $5,000 with Alyssa Edwards after a double-save lip sync to Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive". She was controversially eliminated by Alaska again for placing in the bottom that following episode. She finished in sixth place overall.Outside of Drag Race, she hosted her own web show on WOWpresents called Tea With Tati which premiered in April 2018. She announced on June 18, 2018, the release of a new fragrance called Choices produced by Xyrena.
Tatianna performed live with Charli XCX on October 13, 2018, singing a duet of Charli's song "1999".
She portrayed Ariana Grande in the music video for Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" on June 17, 2019.
On August 26, 2019, Tatianna performed alongside Taylor Swift during her 2019 MTV Video Music Awards performance.
As a part of Pride Month 2023, she announced a partnership with the Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Eastern Shore branch of McDonald's.