If there’s one thing I’ve learned from covering the VMAs, it’s that you never really know what the night is going to look like until you’re in the room. There’s the Moon Person. The performances. The outfits. The inevitable moment that has everyone texting their group chat before the commercial break is even over. Tomorrow’s show is expected to bring all of that — with one extra ingredient thrown into the mix: more dancing.
BACARDÍ Rum is returning as the Official Spirits Partner of the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards for the fourth consecutive year, but this time, the brand is doing more than putting cocktails in the hands of guests. It’s helping bring back Best Dance Video, a category that hasn’t been awarded at the VMAs since 2019.
Ahead of the big show, I got a first look at how BACARDÍ is kicking off its VMA weekend during special preview in Los Angeles, where I also caught up with BACARDÍ National Brand Ambassador Darnell Holguin about everything from his first-ever VMAs to Madonna, the return of Best Dance and what he thinks is next for rum in music culture.
For Holguin, this year’s partnership hits a little differently. It’s his first time experiencing the VMAs from inside the room after growing up watching the iconic show himself.
“No, this is, in fact, my first time at the VMAs,” he told Celeb Secrets. “Oh my goodness. It’s a super exciting opportunity being here. I grew up watching the VMAs.”
And while there’s plenty for him to take in this weekend, one name in particular has him especially excited: Madonna. “I’d be dating myself a little bit,” he joked, before reflecting on getting to see the pop icon back at the VMAs and the lasting impact of her history with the show. “That iconic performance she did to open it the first year it aired… is something that set the tone.”
Considering Madonna is also nominated in the returning Best Dance category for “Confessions II – The Film,” her presence feels particularly full-circle. She’ll be competing against Bebe Rexha & Faithless, Harry Styles, Lady Gaga & Doechii, PinkPantheress, Slayyyter and Tate McRae in a category that feels tailor-made for the VMAs’ particular brand of music-meets-pop-culture chaos.
For BACARDÍ, bringing the category back is about recognizing how much dance has changed — and how much of music culture now happens on a dance floor, in a club, on TikTok or wherever people happen to be moving to a song they can’t get out of their heads.
“Dance does… kinda [become] a great representation of ourselves and at the VMAs as well,” Holguin said.
Because this is BACARDÍ we’re talking about, the return of Best Dance obviously comes with its own soundtrack — and a cocktail menu. The BACARDÍ Moonwalk Mojito is the official cocktail of the 2026 VMAs, while guests can also sip the BACARDÍ Agua Fresca, Coco Colada Spritz and BACARDÍ 808.
The lineup is basically a little tour of what BACARDÍ does best: bright, tropical, fruity, spicy, refreshing and very easy to imagine holding while somebody in an extremely questionable outfit walks past you at a VMA party. Holguin was closely involved in the cocktail curation, with the goal of creating drinks that actually felt connected to the energy of the weekend.
“We were looking for [ways] to make sure that we had the flavors and vibrations that kind of fit the kind of color we like to present,” he explained.
The Agua Fresca brings BACARDÍ Gold together with watermelon, lime and chamoy for a fruity drink with a little heat. The Coco Colada Spritz leans tropical with BACARDÍ Coconut Rum, pineapple and lime. And the Moonwalk Mojito keeps things classic with BACARDÍ Superior Rum, lime, mint and club soda. Basically, there’s a drink for whichever version of yourself shows up to the VMAs.
But the real story is bigger than a cocktail. Holguin’s connection to BACARDÍ is personal. As a first-generation Dominican American, rum is part of his Caribbean upbringing — and that’s one of the reasons becoming the brand’s National Brand Ambassador felt like such a natural fit.
“I am Caribbean descent. You know, being a first-generation Dominican American, rum is in my veins,” he said. “It’s a unique category that honestly runs the gamut and has a really fine palate for any kind of liquor lover.”
His relationship with BACARDÍ actually goes back nearly a decade, beginning through the brand’s Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition before officially stepping into his current ambassador role about a year ago.
“When the opportunity presented itself, it was kind of a no-brainer,” he said.
And now, he’s looking at the VMAs as another opportunity to tell that bigger story — one that goes beyond what’s in the glass.
“I’d love to see Bacardi leading the way with the category for a lot of the categories,” Holguin said. “Explaining how rum makes the category, that it’s really influential in the world, in our culture.”
Then, on Thursday (September 24), BACARDÍ brought the VMA energy to Bar Lis in Los Angeles for its pre-VMA kickoff party, where the night started to feel a lot less like a preview and a lot more like the real thing.
Newly announced VMA presenter and Summer House alum Ciara Miller, who is currently competing on Dancing With the Stars, stopped by after rehearsals, while Love Island duo Kenzie Annis and Jaiden Bacciocco and influencer Carter Gregory were also among the guests. I was there too, and the vibe was exactly what you’d want from a VMAs pre-party: music, cocktails, familiar faces and that slightly chaotic feeling that comes with knowing everyone is gearing up for one very long night.
DJ Caleb Calloway kept the room moving with VMA-nominated hits and tracks from his Best Dance remix, while the Moon Person even made an appearance. And yes, the Moonwalk Mojitos, Agua Frescas, Coco Colada Spritzes and BACARDÍ 808s were flowing.
With Best Dance officially back, Madonna in the mix, a whole new generation of artists competing and BACARDÍ quite literally putting the beat back into the VMAs, there’s a pretty good chance the dance floor is going to be one of the most interesting places to watch the show from.
The 2026 MTV VMAs, hosted by Snoop Dogg, take over Los Angeles TOMORROW, September 27th at 7:30PM ET/4:30PM PT on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ Premium in the U.S.
