Clair Barnes (born November 22, 1990), known professionally as Lexi Love, is an American drag performer and model. She rose to prominence for competing on the seventeenth season of reality competition television series "RuPaul's Drag Race".
Career.
Lexi Love was appointed as the official American ambassador to the United Kingdom-based House of Versace by "Drag Race UK" winner Krystal Versace. One of her mentors is 2016 Mr. Continental winner Mykul Jay Valentine. An early drag mother of Lexi Love's was Nomi Love, and her current drag mother is Jessica Dimon.
Lexi Love competed and finished as a finalist on the seventeenth season of competition series "RuPaul's Drag Race" (2025), alongside Jewels Sparkles, Onya Nurve, and Sam Star. She was the first contestant to represent Louisville, and the oldest competitor in the season. Many of her competitors referred to her as "grandma" or "auntie" which sparked a debate online with fans involving ageism in the franchise.
Throughout the season, she won two main challenges such as the talent show where Lexi Love debuted "She's Giving" while roller skating and doing cartwheels. Her debut song was produced and co-written by record producer Drew Louis, and was released on January 10, 2025. Alongside with Onya Nurve, they both won the narrative interpretive dance challenge. For the Snatch Game challenge, Lexi Love impersonated the late comedian Gilbert Gottfried; "Entertainment Weekly" saw her effort and "tried her hand at pulling off the feat" as Lexi Love became the third contestant in the series playing a male-presenting character. Her Instagram following grew by 1,144 percent as the show aired.
Personal life.
Barnes is a transgender woman and uses "she/her" pronouns. She is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Barnes was raised in Florence and previously performed within the Cincinnati metropolitan area for nearly a decade, and afterwards Barnes worked for Play Dance Bar in 2021. She survived a period of homelessness and drug addiction, mostly thanks to her drag family. 
During her appearance for the seventeenth season of "RuPaul's Drag Race", Barnes disclosed in an interview about taking on a second mortgage for their garments.
After various HIV resources from government websites attributing for the LGBTQ community were removed on January 22, 2025, Barnes called out the second Donald Trump administration through social media platform Instagram. She shared an infographic from the NOH8 campaign, revealing herself to be HIV positive, and utilized those funded programs from over ten years ago.
Barnes soon announced her indefinite break from performing on April 27 through social media in order "to nurture my mental, physical, and emotional well-being." It was revealed she will be admitting herself to a rehabilitation clinic. Her manager subsequently clarified on May 10 that although Barnes had suffered with methamphetamine addiction in the past, "meth is not a factor here" and is simply for emotional therapy as well as "complete sobriety" from all other forms of drugs and alcohol. Barnes ended her time at the facility she attended on May 19, stating it was "short-lived due to some unforeseen circumstances."
Artistry.
Barnes cites her inspirations for her drag persona to be "nostalgic" from the annual Victoria's Secret runways and "very hardcore" in Y2K fashion. She uses roller skates while performing and describes herself as Kentucky's "Roller-Derby Doll".