Ella Vaday spoke to GAY TIMES about the “exciting” things she has been up to since Drag Race UK and how she has “changed” since competing.
The self-proclaimed “drag beast from the East” dominated the UK’s third instalment, becoming only the fourth queen in the franchise’s herstory to win four challenges in a single season.
Since her time on the show came to an end, Ella says she has been “a busy, busy girl” and working on lots of “exciting stuff” that will be announced in the coming months.
“I’ve been working my socks off and it’s been so nice to meet everyone around the country who has appreciated what I did and my journey on the show,” she tells GAY TIMES. “That has been the best bit about it.”
She is currently touring with season three sisters Vanity Milan, Choriza May and River Medway as part of their Pick ‘N’ Mix tour based on the “Big Drag Energy” performance challenge.
“It’s just nice to work together because when you finish Drag Race, you’re then off doing your own thing,” she explains.
“We saw each other a bit during the show run and then we’re all just working and I don’t get to see really anyone, especially on my touring, my excursions around the country, I don’t see anyone, I’m just by myself.”
The queens are visiting 10 different cities across the UK throughout March, roughly a year since they filmed the third season of Drag Race UK.
“So at least now, I’m going to have three other girls and it’s nice to sort of recap the whole ‘Big Drag Energy’ thing which was so, it must have been this time last year, and it’s nice to think that a year later, we’re actually touring around and people are coming to see us,” Ella continues.
She reveals that when the group competed as Pick ‘N’ Mix during the challenge, they didn’t think they stood a chance of winning because they “were dealt the slow song” – though now they have an entire tour based on it.
“We’ve all evolved so much since last year when we did this in the national lockdown, that was I think the third lockdown or something,” Ella explains. “And we’ve all changed so much in that year. So, we’ve kind of renewed our costumes and it’s just different because we’ve got more of an idea of who we are, I think, post-Drag Race compared to who we were then – I certainly feel like that, anyway.”
Those going to the shows are in for a treat as the queens taking part each bring something very “different” to each other.
“So in the show, you’re just going to get a diverse range of stuff, as well as obviously ‘BDE’ and we’re also doing a megamix and a mashup of Spice Girls hits, so there’s something for all the ages, you know, from young to what is my kind of fan base, the middle aged women,” she tells GAY TIMES.
Getty Images / Darren Bell
Ella says tour is a “nice chance” to do something different to what viewers saw of her on Drag Race UK.
She adds: “I think this is about us showing the public what we do because when you’re on a show like RuPaul’s, you’re kind of constrained to tasks which might not be in your comfort zone.
“You know, Snatch Game was Choriza and River’s exit and Vanity obviously got as far as she possibly could after the comedy challenge.
“So, this is really the chance for all of us to show the fans of the show what we do and why we got on the show and why we’re good and what our talents are.
“So, it’s not going to be as much about RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s more like, meet us from RuPaul’s Drag Race and see why we were chosen for the show just to show our uniqueness, our nerve, and whatever the other ones are. Talent, charisma! I’ve got them in the wrong order.”
Despite already being an incredibly seasoned performer by the time she competed on the show, she says the last year has taught her a lot about herself.
“And I certainly learned from doing Drag Race that, do you know what? I’m good at doing drag,” she adds. “And I was only about a year and a half into doing it properly, like trying to make some money – and that wasn’t even full time…I think going through that experience is going to always change whoever does it forever. For the better, hopefully not for the worse.”
Ella has a lot of things in the pipeline, including a headline tour in Australia over the summer.
Instagram [ellavaday]
She explains: “I think what would be really exciting for me would be to do some in and out of drag because I feel like, certainly in this country, no one’s really broken into that side of things and as that’s been my bread and butter the last sort of, well my whole life, it would be great to be able to do more!”
Ella is quick to clarify that despite her eagerness to continue doing what she has done in the past, she still wants “to do new things.”
“I’m all about doing things the hard way,” she states. “So I’d rather do the things that scare me and are really going to test me. That’s why I went on Drag Race, not to do things that are easy. ‘Let’s go and do Drag Race during a pandemic’, that was what I thought.”
You can keep up with everything Ella Vaday is doing by clicking here.
Tickets for the Pick ‘N’ Mix tour are available here.
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