James Lee Williams, who has sadly passed away aged just thirty two, was a brilliant all-rounder. The Vivienne, his drag queen alter ego named after legendary designer Vivienne Westwood, was the epitome of Scouse fierceness: witty, no-nonsense and extremely smart.
I saw them perform in Drag Race UK Live in 2019 (they were the first UK winner in the first series of the UK franchise) and they made it all look so effortless. They were a real triple threat. More recently, they’d wowed new audiences on TV show Dancing On Ice, and to great acclaim on stage as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
Their untimely death is such a shock and a terrible loss to the queer community. They were sure to become a household name, in the vein of outspoken icons such as Lily Savage and Julian Clary. They were on their way. Their Donald Trump impersonation on Snatch Game, as RuPaul remarked, was probably the best that’s ever been. Long live Queen Viv.
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