DRAG RACE UK Winner and Stage Performer The Vivienne Dies at Age 32

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that drag queen The Vivienne, aka James Lee Williams, has died at age 32. The performer died over the weekend, as confirmed by Publicist Simon Jones on social media.

The Vivienne won the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2019, and has appeared in various musical theatre and television productions.

Most recently, The Vivienne appeared in the UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in the role of The Childcatcher. Last year, she also appeared in the UK tour and West End production of The Wizard of Oz.

2023 saw The Vivienne make history as the first drag star to appear on a major UK reality competition series, competing in 'Dancing On Ice' on ITV, making it all the way through the Top 3. 2023 also saw The Vivienne become the face and voice of the BBC's Eurovision Song Contest trailers. In addition, she performed 'Waterloo' at the massive Eurovision opening ceremony in Liverpool city centre.

Shortly after Drag Race UK, The Vivienne filmed her own BBC Three / BBC iPlayer show 'The Vivienne Takes On Hollywood' and also launched her own show with Netflix UK ‘I Like To Watch'. She was one of the stars of Channel 4's 'Celebrity Hunted' and took part in 'The Great British Sewing Bee' Christmas' special on BBC One.

She has also appeared on numerous TV shows including Celebrity Juice, Shopping With Keith Lemon, Bridge of Lies, The Weakest Link, Celebrity Catchpoint, Celebrity Mastermind,Celebability, Lorraine, Rob & Romesh Vs, ITV2's V Festival show, Roman & Martin Kemp, Radio 2, Capital Radio, Radio 1 and many more. She was a star of two major ITV2 series 'Apocalypse Wow' and 'Celebrity Karaoke Drag Queen Edition', alongside hosting her own show for the channel 'All Star Dance Off'.

The Vivienne has taken part in campaigns for L'Oreal, Experian, McDonalds, KP Nuts, Audible, TK Maxx, Westfield and many others. She has also launched her own successful make up palette with B Perfect 'Sceptre'.

In 2021, The Vivienne released 'Bitch On Heels' an electro pop song written by songwriter Diane Warren. She launched her music career in 2020 with her debut singles 'Tonight' and 'You Spin Me Round', a collaboration with uber remixer Initial Talk which she performed at Attitude Magazine's 2020 Awards.

In 2021 she re-opened London's West End alongside Tia Kofi, Veronica Green and Shania Pain with their 'Drag Queens Of Pop' show, a performance they later took to a headline slot at Manchester Pride in front of over 10,000 people. In 2022 she performed on the main stage at Pride In London's 50th celebration, and in 2023 performed on the main stage at Brighton Pride.