Cherry West: From schoolboy Sam to drag teen

Sam Carlin turns into Cherry West when his alter ego hits the stage

Teenage drag queen Cherry West is dreaming of a flamboyant future after stumbling across the "hilarious" drag scene on holiday as a 10-year-old.

Cherry is the alter ego of Sam Carlin, 15, an Edinburgh schoolboy who connected with the comedy of performing on stage as a woman.

Sam was no stranger to the stage when he decided to develop a drag act at 13.

He started busking during the Edinburgh Festival when he was seven, and was in a boy band from the age of 10 to 13.

His current passion began when he was introduced to drag on a family holiday to Lanzarote five years ago.

'Always a performer'

His dad, who is also called Sam Carlin, told BBC Scotland's Mornings with Kaye Adams: "We just stumbled upon this drag bar and thought 'this is going to be a laugh'.

"So we went in and had a great time, although I got taken up on stage and I got dressed up into a drag queen. Sam thought it was very funny; I was very embarrassed.

"He took it from there. We knew Sam kind of liked the drag scene, and the comedy aspect of it.

"He's always been a performer."

Sam Carlin started developing his drag act at the age of 13

When Sam, who is a fan of Ru Paul's Drag Race, told his parents he wanted to do drag, they encouraged him to start by practising at home, and his sister taught him how to do his make-up.

"We didn't want everybody else to know at that point in time," his dad said. "We weren't sure what people's reaction would be.

"But since then, since he made it public, he's just had great feedback."

Sam said he was "quite surprised" at how supportive his school had been since he started performing in drag last year.

"All the teachers absolutely love it," he said.

"I have a show coming up that some of the teachers actually really want to come to so I'm very grateful to have the school behind my back and all the pupils, they're just doing their own thing, they don't really mind it."

Sam's dad has taken on the role of taxi driver when his son performs, but his idea of buying a sewing machine so his wife could make costumes fell flat - the machine is still in the box.

For now Sam buys Cherry's costumes from Instagram businesses, including one that also made outfits for Ant and Dec's drag act on Saturday Night Takeaway last month.

"I just love how confident it makes me feel in drag," he said. "I'm quite confident out of drag, but when I'm on stage performing and entertaining everyone it does give me that boost.

Cherry West, from Edinburgh, is driven all over the country by parents Sam and Karen

"I love having big massive wigs. I almost feel like wigs are something I can hide behind in drag because I feel more protected when I have a big wig."

He added: "When I am out of drag and I used to perform, I did act, you would say, flamboyant and feminine, whereas when I am in drag I can use that and be as camp as I want."

Asked what it is like seeing his son as Cherry on stage, his dad said: "For us it is just Sam in drag.

"We're used to Sam performing quite a lot but you do see he has a wee bit extra confidence when he is in drag and in the way he portrays and comes across in his performances."

Private functions

Also speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, mum Karen said they didn't know much about the drag scene before Sam got involved, "but we know quite a bit about it now".

As a child act, Sam is not allowed to perform in nightclubs with an over-18s only audience.

Karen said she or her husband always accompany Sam when he is performing as Cherry West and he's driven to events.

For the next three years Sam is concentrating on private functions, online appearances, Pride events and drag nights that allow an over-14 audience, with the ultimate goal of appearing on Ru Paul's Drag Race when he turns 18.

"I would 100% love to do this full-time. I would love to leave school, do gig after gig, touring and stuff like that," he said.