‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’: How Salina EsTitties Helped Get Frankie Grande Sober and Save His Life
Both Frankie and Ariana Grande have appeared on season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, crossing paths with famed Los Angeles queen Salina EsTitties. Salina and Frankie go way back, and their relationship is much stronger than many fans would think. Frankie even credits Salina with saving his life.
Frankie Grande has been open about his sobriety
Frankie Grande appeared on the Confess Your Mess podcast in December 2021 and opened up about his sobriety journey. At the time, his addiction was getting in the way of his relationships with his sister Ariana and mother Joan.
“When I was drinking and using, I pushed them away,” he said. “I chose to spend more time drinking and drugging and partying than having a relationship with my family.”
“I started to disappear,” he continued. “For 10 years they just started to see less and less and less of me.”
After the tragic events at his sister’s 2017 concert in Manchester, he fell into a deep hole that he struggled to get out of. But a month later, in June 2017, he started to get sober.
Salina EsTitties helped Frankie Grande get sober
In March 2023, Frankie appeared on Entertainment Weekly’s Quick Drag podcast and discussed his connection to some of the queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15. He was a guest as one of the interviewees for the “50/50’s Most Gagworthy Stars” challenge and took a moment to shout out Salina EsTitties.
“The reason why I’m sober today is because of Salina EsTitties,” he shared. “She and I met… when I was judging a drag show eight years ago and she was so wonderful and I went and I met her after the show. I was f***ed up. And I knew at that point that I was an addict and an alcoholic. I knew it, but I wasn’t doing anything about it.”
Two days later, Frankie attended a meeting to confront his addiction. To his surprise, he ran into Salina again.
“I was in the back of the meeting all by myself and I was so scared and Salina walked up to me [out of drag] and said, ‘Hi, I’m Salina EsTitties from the drag show the other night. Are you trying to get sober?’ And it was so crazy because from that point forward, we were best friends,” he recalled.
Frankie has now been sober for nearly six years. “I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for Salina EsTitties,” he confessed.
When Salina was cast RuPaul’s Drag Race after years of auditioning, Frankie couldn’t contain his excitement. “It’s official. My best friend in the world is a Ru-girl!” he captioned an Instagram photo of them. “For the past 5 years I have watched this angel of a human audition and audition for [RuPaul’s Drag Race] year after year. [Salina] would always let me be one of the only people that got to see it before he sent it in as he is so humble and sometimes shy about his craft (I know hard to believe but very true). And every year I would see the same [star] I’ve known the past 10 years but each time it would shine a little brighter and I always said, ‘Your time is coming when it’s meant to…’ And henny… This is it! The time is NOW! And now the world can finally see you are a [star], YOUR time is NOW! The universe said, ‘LET’S GO B****!’ And you answered, ‘AOUUUW!!'”
“I am so so proud of you my sober sister, my ride or die, my f***ing everything,” he concluded. “You’ve fought for this and you deserve it. Now prance my queen, prance! I love you!”
Salina EsTitties has been open with her sobriety
Salina, meanwhile, has spoken about her sobriety in the past, opening up in a May 2020 interview with Voyage LA. “Two years of drug use and finding myself homeless at one point and run down to the ground, I got sober a month after I turned 21. Now, this is a really young age to get sober but something told me that everything was happening for a reason,” she said. “When I got sober, it was a new opportunity for me to really chase after whatever I wanted.”
In a June 2021 interview with Shoutout LA, she reflected on getting sober at 21 years old and how RuPaul — a sober queen herself — helped inspire her.
“RuPaul said something on the podcast that made my heart sing. She said, ‘My purpose is…’ This idea of purpose came up. I asked myself, ‘What is my purpose? Why did I get sober at 21 years old? Why did I find drag? Why does drag keep finding me?'” she remembered. “I saw a shooting star in that moment. I took this as my sign. I got sober at 21 years old so that all of my experiences as I move forward with my life I can express that through the art form of drag.”
“Drag is my vessel to tell the story of everyone who came before me, to tell my parents story, to tell my story!” she added.
Salina commemorated her 11-year sober anniversary with a November 2022 Instagram post. “Holy cow, eleven years of sober Titties!” she said proudly. “Everything in my life today is a result of keeping my mind, body, and spirit in check, and with out the ease and comfort of a drink or a drug.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
