Santino Rice Net Worth

What is Santino Rice's Net Worth?

Santino Rice is an American fashion designer and television personality who has a net worth of $500 thousand. Rice is best known for becoming one of the breakout personalities of "Project Runway" season two, where his dramatic design choices, sharp tongue, and memorable impressions of Tim Gunn made him one of the most talked-about contestants of the early reality-TV fashion boom. Although he finished third behind winner Chloe Dao and runner-up Daniel Vosovic, Santino parlayed his exposure into a longer television career than many "Project Runway" alumni. He later became one of the original judges on "RuPaul's Drag Race," helping shape the tone of the show during its formative years before it grew into a massive global franchise. He also co-starred with fellow "Project Runway" alum Austin Scarlett on the Lifetime travel-and-design series "On the Road with Austin & Santino." Outside television, Rice has worked as a designer, stylist, costume-adjacent creative, performer, and media personality.

Early Life

Santino Quinto Rice was born on August 20, 1974, in St. Charles, Missouri. He grew up in Missouri before moving toward a career in fashion and entertainment. Rice attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, where he developed the technical and creative foundation that later helped him stand out on television.

Before becoming nationally known, Rice worked in Los Angeles creative circles, including fashion design, styling, voice-over work, and entertainment-adjacent jobs. His combination of design ability, height, theatricality, and outspoken personality eventually made him a natural fit for reality television.

Project Runway

Rice became famous in 2005 as a contestant on the second season of "Project Runway." The Bravo series was still relatively new at the time, and season two helped cement the show as one of the defining reality competitions of the 2000s.

Santino quickly became one of the season's central characters. He won multiple challenges, including the season's first challenge and a later challenge involving a party dress for Nicky Hilton. His work was often bold, theatrical, and polarizing, and his critiques from the judges could be brutal. He was also known for his sense of humor, especially his impressions of mentor Tim Gunn, which became a recurring part of the season's off-runway entertainment.

Rice made it all the way to the final three, presenting a collection at New York Fashion Week. He ultimately finished in third place, with Daniel Vosovic taking second and Chloe Dao winning the season.

RuPaul's Drag Race

After "Project Runway," Rice reached a new audience as one of the original judges on "RuPaul's Drag Race." He appeared on the judging panel during the show's earliest years, when it was still a scrappy Logo series rather than the Emmy-winning global franchise it later became.

Rice judged contestants through a fashion and construction lens, often focusing on silhouettes, taste level, garment choices, and runway presentation. His critiques were sometimes direct and divisive, but his presence was part of the identity of the show's early seasons. He remained a regular judge through the first six seasons and later returned as a guest judge in season seven.

His time on "Drag Race" made him a familiar figure to generations of fans who discovered the series after its original run, especially as early seasons found new audiences through streaming and franchise expansion.

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Other Television Work

In 2010, Rice co-starred with Austin Scarlett on "On the Road with Austin & Santino," a Lifetime series that followed the two designers as they traveled around the United States creating custom looks for women with major life events. The show mixed fashion, travel, personality, and makeover elements, but it lasted only one season.

Rice also appeared in the "Project Runway All-Star Challenge" and made various reality-TV, hosting, and pop-culture appearances tied to his fashion and "Drag Race" fame. His screen career has been concentrated mostly in reality television, where his personality was as much a selling point as his design background.

Later Career and Public Image

After leaving the regular "Drag Race" judging panel, Rice became less visible in mainstream television. In later years, he attracted attention for his outspoken and controversial social media presence, especially around politics, health, and vaccines. Those controversies became part of how many newer "Drag Race" fans encountered his name, separate from his original fashion-TV work.

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