George Fowler better known by the stage nameHugo Grrrl, is a New Zealand drag king, comedian, cabaret producer, best known for winning the inaugural season of House of Drag. Entering the competition, Hugo Grrrl became the first drag king and first trans man to compete on a Drag Race reality show.
Drag king career
After finishing his studies, Fowler worked nights in bars, however, it was not rewarding. George had a gender identity crisis in his twenties and Hugo Grrrl was born. He quit his job and started his career as a full-time drag king. In 2016, Hugo Grrrl created his well known shows "Naked Girls Reading" and "The Pun Battles". Naked Girls Reading show is exactly what it sounds like, a concept beautiful in its simplicity, completely nude women reciting literature aloud. The Pun Battle is a show filled with puns literally, generally a battle between two comedians with a play on words. With the success and popularity of both shows, Hugo Grrrl decided to take the shows on tour across the country.
''House of Drag''
In 2018, Hugo Grrrl entered a New Zealand reality competition television series produced by Warner Bros. International TV Production New Zealand for TVNZ OnDemand and OutTV. It debuted on 15 November 2018 on TVNZ OnDemand. In the first episode, all the contestants were introduced and participated in a photoshoot challenge. Hugo entered in a Ringmaster type outfit and had a stunning photoshoot making him safe for that week. In the second episode, the contestants participated in a comedy stand up challenge with Hugo Grrrl wearing a Pink suit. His stand up routine was about coming out as a Tran man. The routine was well put together with no negativity and succeeded in making the room laugh. Hugo was safe from this week's episode. In the third episode Hugo began the episode wearing a boy scouts outfit. After a comedic skit of tai chi, the contestants spoke about the criticism that Hugo Grrrl and Trinity Ice received for being transgender and a drag queen. The episode challenge was a DIY outfit design challenge made out of random objects. This is where a rivalry began between Hugo Grrrl and Lola Blades after Blade stole items out of Hugo's hands. Hugo DIY outfit was made out of gold party cups in a Borat bikini type outfit. Hugo Grrrl won the challenge of the week, give him the right to choose the bottom two. He picked Lola Blades and Trinity Ice to be the bottom two of the week, but it was Trinity that was eliminated. In the fourth episode, it began with Hugo Grrrl reflecting his win from the previous week. In this episodes challenge the contestants did an acting challenge. Surprisingly team captain Lola Blades picked Hugo to be in his team. Their team skit was the beginning of the host Anita Wiglit career. Hugo's team won the team challenge, making him safe for the week. In the fifth episode, the contestants had to compete in a dance challenge. Lola Blades was randomly selected to hand out the themes of the challenges, which resulted in Lola selecting Hugo to do the Hip Hop theme. Hugo performed his dance routine successfully, receiving only positive comments. Hugo Grrrl was safe on this week's episode. On the sixth episode, It began with Hugo talking a little on his rival Lola Blades with Bunny Holiday. In this episodes challenge, the contestants had a four-person tournament like a rap battle. Hugo defeated Leidy Lei in the Semifinals, however, lost against Lola Blades in the finals. Hugo Grrrl was safe in this week's episode. In the season finale, the competition were down to its final three. In the final challenge, the contestants had to compete in a lipsync challenge to "Cherry Blossom" by Sal Valentine. After a successful lip sync, Hugo Grrrl won the Inaugural season of House of drag with Lola Blades coming second and Leidy Lei coming third. Hugo took home a prize of $10,000, a 55" LG Smart LED TV and one year of free Broadband.
Personal life
George Fowler was born in Christchurch to two English teachers. He moved to Wellington at the age of 17 to not only study Law and theatre but also to be part of the gay scene.
