The Vivienne was 'incredible', filmmaker says

The producer of Ru Paul's Drag Race UK has described drag artist James Lee Williams, whose act The Vivienne won the first series in 2019, as "incredible".

Fenton Bailey said the "beautiful tributes" following the 32-year-old's death in January prompted him to co-produce the documentary Dear Viv, which recently debuted on BBC Three and iPlayer.

An inquest heard Williams was found dead in the bath by a neighbour after friends had struggled to get in touch. It followed a struggle with ketamine addiction and a relapse after years of sobriety.

Mr Bailey told BBC Radio Merseyside the performer had been due to appear at the series' fan convention in January and participants were "all thunderstruck".

"When the convention opened, the amount of people there and the beautiful tributes – we suddenly were like we should document this and that's how [the documentary] started," Mr Bailey said.

He said Williams' family agreed to take part in the programme, adding: "This can only have been a really raw time for them – they were in the throes of grief.

"It was so amazing that in those very early days, they trusted us and invited us in to tell the story."

Born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, Williams later lived and worked in Liverpool and Cheshire, rising to national fame after featuring in the BBC series Ru Paul's Drag Race UK in 2019.

The performer adopted the drag name because of a love for wearing Vivienne Westwood clothing.

As well as winning Drag Race, The Vivienne came third on the 2023 series of Dancing On Ice and performed as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard Of Oz musical.

The Vivienne also competed on an all-winners season of the RuPaul franchise in the US in 2022 and starred in BBC Three show The Vivienne Takes On Hollywood.

Mr Bailey described the performer as "such an incredible artist really".

"Always just incredible energy, really funny, super-creative - just a really special person."

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