When lockdown closed theatres, it meant the time was right for Ella Vaday to step out into the world.
Within two years, Vaday has been a finalist in the third series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and now finds herself busier than ever, with two upcoming tours and a movie role.
Vaday is the drag persona of Nick Collier, a successful West End performer who has appeared in shows such as Wicked and The Book Of Mormon. Collier was in rehearsals for Hairspray when the pandemic struck so decided to turn a hobby into a full-time job.
Vaday said: “When lockdown happened, drag became my creative output and I really worked on it in the summer of 2020 and submitted an audition tape for Drag Race at the end of that year, so really I was a drag baby on the show, but because I seem confident people assumed I’d been doing it a long time.”
Vaday puts that down to lots of life experience, both on the West End stage and the many jobs in between.
She said: “I left home in Norwich at 16 to train in Kent and have been a professional actor, singer and dancer since I was 19. That’s 15 years of a varied career, where I’ve also done jobs like selling perfume in Harrod’s, selling wine over the phone, and working in cafes and bars.
“Drag Race UK happened quickly so it’s been a bit of a barmy adventure, but performing is in my blood and I’m essentially doing what I trained to do, with a twist. I’m 34 this year and to have this new burst of energy and a new audience and outlook has been exactly what I needed.”
The tour, which comes to Scotland this week, will be different from previous versions, Vaday said, because so many of the drag queens can sing and dance, so “it will be quite a spectacle in terms of movement and voice”. She’ll then go on a Christmas tour with best pal and fellow season three contestant Kitty Scott-Claus, which comes to Glasgow in December.
Sumotherhood, a film also starring Ed Sheeran and Jennifer Saunders, which Vaday shot earlier this year, will be out in 2023, and she has also recorded a musical part for an Audible release.
Life is going great, but it took a lot of effort to perfect the Ella Vaday look.
“I didn’t have a foresight of what I’d look like,” said Vaday. “I had quite a muscular body, especially when I started, so I had to work out how to mask that and also how to frame quite a masculine face. I came up with the curvaceous look and larger wigs, transforming my body from a guy to a girl with an overtly feminine, curvy figure. I looked awful when I started, like devil’s spawn, but I think I look half all right now! It only takes me 35-40 minutes for a full face these days.”
Vaday believes the explosion of drag into the mainstream is because it offers escapism and fun. She likes that it has a deeper role, too.
“I love when fans come with their mums – my mum loves it, and so does my nan. Nan has Alzheimer’s and has a poster of me on her wall in her care home. I was talking to her the other day and she said she wondered who that was on the wall, but she knew it was a man. Thanks Nan!
“It’s one of those things that brings a family together and educates, because you get the drag queens’ perspectives on life and of how they got into drag.
“In a subconscious way you’re helping to educate parents on how they can do better for queer kids. Maybe a parent my age will think more about how to speak to their kids, not gendering everything like asking their son if they have a girlfriend, because it’s those things that can really affect a kid in accepting themselves.
“Having it on TV opens it up to a new world and I hope it educates everyone – kids, adults, older people. It’s doing more good than people realise.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, Caird Hall, Dundee, Edinburgh Playhouse, SEC Armadillo, Glasgow, Thursday-Saturday
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