When news broke on Sunday night that drag performer The Vivienne had died at the age of 32, thousands of people took to social media to pay tribute.
The artist, whose real name was James Lee Williams, had been one of the breakout stars of the BBC series RuPaul’s Drag Race, the reality show in which drag queens compete against host RuPaul to be named his “superstar.”
Vivienne, who used they/them pronouns, won the first UK series in 2019 with a successful combination of honesty, malicious put-downs and an excellent Donald Trump impersonation. The show became an instant hit and the series was streamed over 15 million times on iPlayer.
But one notable voice was missing from the weekend’s sea of tributes: RuPaul himself.
Many were baffled by the silence of the American drag queen, who was born in 1960 as RuPaul Andre Charles. After all, as the show’s creator, he discovered ‘The Viv’ and chose the artist to be his ‘superstar’.
But, my friends tell me now, RuPaul chose his words carefully.
RuPaul, right, with The Vivienne at DragCon UK in London in 2020
Vivienne promotes her appearance on Dancing On Ice in January 2023
Those who know the star reveal the 64-year-old was “absolutely devastated” by The Viv’s death and has been “devastated” by the sudden loss.
In fact, I can reveal that the tragedy has weighed so heavily on RuPaul that he is now “seriously considering” stepping away from his duties as host of the show.
A friend of the star told me: ‘This has come like a bolt from the blue for Ru. Vivienne was one of his brightest stars and everyone knows the weakness he had for them. He was absolutely devastated by her passing and is now weighing his own future.
“Ru is now seriously considering stepping down from hosting the UK franchise, which will always be associated with The Viv.”
For some time now, RuPaul has confided to those close to him that his filming schedule is packed and that he “isn’t getting any younger.”
What’s more, he believes the show is in “good hands” with its co-presenters Michelle Visage, Alan Carr and Graham Norton.
But, without its namesake host, fans of the show will surely wonder how long it can continue, if at all.
Finally, addressing The Vivienne’s death 24 hours after the news broke, RuPaul told his six million Instagram followers: “Heartbroken, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne, an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being.” .’
Vivienne and figure skater Colin Grafton on Dancing On Ice in 2023
Accompanying the post was a photo, not of The Viv in costume but of a young man in a baseball cap smiling next to RuPaul.
That young man was Williams, who adopted The Vivienne as a drag name out of love for Vivienne Westwood’s clothes.
While struggling to make a living in the bars of Gran Canaria, Williams became obsessed with RuPaul and his talent show, which had launched in the United States in 2009.
Viv’s dream of appearing on the show came true. Upon release in the UK ten years later, viewers were moved by Williams’ honesty about a battle with drug addiction before moving to the Spanish island. In tearful on-screen interviews, the actor revealed that, for four years, drugs had been “breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
“It was partying, drugs, but I couldn’t leave the drugs at the party,” Williams said. “It was constant for me.”
For seven nights a week, Williams performed in bars and clubs and sank into addiction.
‘When people say, “You have to hit rock bottom to go further,” it sounds really stupid, but it’s the truth. They had to kick me out of my house and tell me I would be dead by the time I was 30. It was the loneliest part of my life, it was killing me… and my family doesn’t even know it.
“I could have been dead now if I hadn’t done anything about it.”
With the help of Armistead, a rehabilitation center in Liverpool, Williams recovered and moved to Spain, where he met his partner David. The couple was married for four years and divorced in April 2023.
After winning the show that year, making it an instant hit for the BBC and sparking five more seasons, the entertainer’s success continued.
TV bosses hoped to make The Vivienne the next Lily Savage, the alter ego of the late Paul O’Grady, due to both stars’ quick wit and their Liverpool roots.
In fact, less than two weeks before Vivienne’s death, the artist had appeared as a panelist on Blankety Blank, the game show on which Lily Savage became famous.
I can also reveal that The Viv was in the shortlist for the new series of Celebrity Big Brother in March after coming third on last year’s Dancing on Ice.
And it wasn’t just a television career that was flourishing. Last year, The Vivienne made a critically acclaimed West End debut, playing the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz and Childcatcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
But on Sunday, Williams’ distraught father found his son unconscious at home.
Cheshire Police said officers were called to an address in Chorlton-by-Backford at 12.22pm on Sunday and, in an update, confirmed they had found “no suspicious circumstances”.
Vivienne with her ex-partner David. They were married for four years until 2023.
As Simon Jones, Vivienne’s close friend and manager, wrote: “It is tragic that her career is only just beginning.”
The star’s death, along with uncertainty about the show’s future, could cast a shadow over RuPaul’s annual drag convention, which thousands are expected to attend this weekend.
I’m told RuPaul will travel 5,000 miles from her Beverly Hills mansion to London to attend the event at the Excel center with her 35-year-old co-host and best friend, Michelle Visage, by her side.
American singer Visage, who is a key pillar of the UK drag scene, was a close friend of The Vivienne and is expected to take the reins of Drag Race if RuPaul quits.
In a tribute to The Vivienne this week, Visage, 56, wrote: ‘Your laugh, your wit, your talent, your drag. I loved everything but I loved your friendship most of all. You were a lighthouse for many.
‘I am the lucky one to have met you and to have laughed with you so many times. I love you my love.”
The couple are said to be planning a “very special tribute” at the drag convention, the UK’s largest, to “celebrate and not just mourn” the performer.
There will also be a commemorative stand on the ‘pink’ carpet where attendees can pay tribute.
“They want to fill the room with love,” a source said.
But despite all the planned celebrations, fans of The Vivienne and RuPaul will surely continue to have questions for some time to come.