The Vivienne

James Lee Williams, better known by the stage name The Vivienne, is a British drag queen. He was appointed the first UK RuPaul's Drag Race ambassador in 2015,[3] and in 2019, she won the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.[4] As part of his victory The Vivienne was awarded his own online television series, later titled The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood. The series premiered on 9 April 2020 on BBC Three and follows him on his trip to Hollywood to produce his own music video.[5]

The Vivienne
Born
James Lee Williams[1]

Colwyn Bay, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
EducationRydal Penrhos School
OccupationDrag queen
Spouse(s)
David Ludford
(
m. 2019)
[2]

Career

The Vivienne chose his name because he was known for wearing Vivienne Westwood, adding the definite article to make it unique.[6] She has worked in many Liverpool bars, including Superstar Boudoir, GBar and Heaven.[7] In May 2015, she was crowned the UK Ambassador of RuPaul's Drag Race.[3]

On 21 August 2019, Vivienne was announced as one of the ten contestants to be competing in the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.[8] In September 2019, he participated in Jag Race, a racing competition in collaboration with Jaguar Cars. Vivienne raced for Sahir House; a charity that provides a space in which people can speak freely without fear of prejudice, stigma, abuse or exploitation in relation to HIV, based in its hometown of Liverpool.[9] In November 2019, she was crowned the first winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.[3] In November to December 2019, Vivienne, alongside the cast of the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, embarked on a tour, hosted by Drag Race alum Alyssa Edwards.[10]

In December 2019, The Vivienne alongside fellow RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestant Baga Chipz began starring in Morning T&T on WOW Presents Plus.[11] The show sees The Vivienne and Baga reprise their Snatch Game impersonations of Donald Trump and Margaret Thatcher, respectively, to host fictional television news show, and consisted of six episodes as of January 2020.[12] At DragCon UK in January 2020 an additional episode was filmed with The Vivienne and Baga appearing as themselves.[13] Guests on the web series included fellow Drag Race UK alumni Sum Ting Wong as Queen Elizabeth II and Cheryl Hole as Gemma Collins.[14][15]

In March 2020, World of Wonder announced a six-part series The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood, documenting The Vivienne travelling to Los Angeles in order to make a music video. The show premiered on BBC Three on 9 April, and simultaneously started streaming on WOW Presents Plus.[16][17]

That same month, The Vivienne, once again alongside Baga Chipz, started presenting the UK version of I Like to Watch, a web series produced by Netflix in which they humorously review Netflix programming.[18] The Vivienne has since appeared on Celebrity Juice.

In July 2020, The Vivienne voiced as Donald Trump in the BBC Three documentary Trump in Tweets.[19]

Personal life

The Vivienne was married in 2019.[20][21] He is also known for his strong Liverpool accent that he uses comedically in his drag performances.

Discography

Singles
Year Song Ref.
2020 "Tonight" [22]
Title Year Album
"Break Up Bye Bye" (Filth Harmony version)[23]

(The cast of RuPaul's Drag UK)

 2019 Non-album single
"To The Moon" (Cast version)[24]

(RuPaul ft. The cast of RuPaul's Drag UK)

 Non-album single

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2016 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Series 8 - Episode 4
2016 Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Drag Queen Film
2019 Just Tattoo of Us Herself Guest
2019 RuPaul's Drag Race UK Herself Contestant (Winner); series 1
2019 The Big Fat Quiz of the Year[25] Herself 2019 Edition
2020 RuPaul's Drag Race Donald Trump Series 12 - Episode 1
2020 Celebrity Juice Herself Guest
2020 Trump in Tweets Donald Trump Credited as Voice Over
Web
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015, 2020 Transformations Herself Guest [26][27]
2019 Jag Race Herself By Attitude [28]
2019-2020 Morning T&T Donald Trump World of Wonder original [29]
2020 The WOW Report Herself Guest [30]
2020 I Like to Watch UK Herself Netflix UK web series [31]
2020 God Save the Queens Herself World of Wonder docu-series [32]
2020 Vivienne Takes Hollywood Herself World of Wonder original [33]
2020 Trump Learns Things Donald Trump World of Wonder original [34]
2020 The Pit Stop Herself Season Five, Episode Three [35]

References
  1. "James Lee Williams". British Comedy Guide.
  2. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Gum9zB-_C/
  3. "RuPaul Crowns First Ever UK Drag Ambassador: The Vivienne". www.out.com. 29 May 2015.
  4. "Liverpool drag star The Vivienne to compete in RuPaul's UK Drag Race". 21 August 2019.
  5. "RuPaul's Drag Race winner The Vivienne praying for UK versus US series". Metro. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. Ferns, PS. "No ordinary label queen: The Vivienne – An interview". vadamagazine.com.
  7. McCoid, Sophie. "RuPaul's Drag Race UK drag queens include Liverpool's The Vivienne". Liverpool Echo.
  8. Smith, Reiss. "The RuPaul's Drag Race UK queens are finally here". PinkNews.
  9. "LIVERPOOL'S THE VIVIENNE AND COURTNEY ACT GO HEAD TO HEAD AS THEY 'JAG RACE' FOR LGBT CHARITIES". TheGuideDeliverpool.
  10. Crossley, Becki. "Stars of RuPaul's Drag Race UK to tour in December, tickets on sale now". List.
  11. Lusky, Bridget (25 November 2019). "'RuPaul's Drag Race UK' spinoff 'Morning T&T' coming super soon". Film Daily. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  12. "Morning T&T". WOW Presents Plus. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  13. "Morning T&T at RuPaul's DragCon UK 2020! - Season 1". WOW Presents Plus. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  14. "REAL News and Graceful Brexits - Season 1". WOW Presents Plus. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  15. "Cancelled?!? - Season 1". WOW Presents Plus. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  16. Ramos, Dino-Ray (24 March 2020). "World Of Wonder Sets 'The Vivienne Takes Hollywood' With 'RuPaul's Drag Race UK' Winner". Deadline. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  17. "BBC Three - The Vivienne Takes On Hollywood - Available now". BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  18. "The Vivienne and Baga Chipz host new Netflix series 'I Like to Watch UK'". Attitude.co.uk. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  19. Trump in Tweets, retrieved 19 July 2020
  20. "'Drag Race U.K.' Winner The Vivienne Got Married at a Gay Club". www.out.com. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  21. "Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne got married at Heaven nightclub". PinkNews. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  22. Damshenas, Sam (20 May 2020). "Premiere: Watch the lyric video for The Vivienne's debut banger Tonight". Gay Times. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  23. "Drag Race UK's girl group episode was the best in years, including America". 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  24. "RuPaul's Drag Race U.K. Finale Recap: The Queen of England". 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  25. Yeates, Cydney. "The Vivienne hits back as she's criticised for using word 'fishy' on Big Fat Quiz Of The Year 2019". Metro. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  26. The Vivienne and James St. James - Transformations. YouTube. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  27. Nguyen, Nikki (12 May 2020). "The Vivienne Slays James St. James' Mug on "Transformations"". World Of Wonder.
  28. Courtney Act and The Vivienne actually drag race | Heat One – Jag Race S1, E1. YouTube. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  29. "The Vivienne and Baga Chipz Serve "Morning T&T" in New Digital Series". NewNowNext.com. 22 November 2019.
  30. RuPaul on SNL! Margot Robbie! Britney! The Vivienne Joins Us for The WOW Report for Radio Andy!. YouTube. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  31. Drag Queens Baga Chipz and The Vivienne React To Sex Education | I Like To Watch UK. YouTube. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  32. Barraclough, Leo. "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Producers Greenlight Two Docu-Series for SVOD (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  33. Damshenas, Sam. "Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne to slay Hollywood in brand new series". Variety.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  34. Nguyen, Nikki (13 April 2020). "Trump Sissys That Walk on "Trump Learns Things"". worldofwonder.net. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  35. The Pit Stop S5 E3 | Bob & The Vivienne Recap Get a Room! | RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. YouTube. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
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