The Vivienne


James Lee Williams, better known by the stage name The Vivienne, is a British/Welsh drag queen. He was appointed the first UK RuPaul's Drag Race ambassador in 2015, and in 2019, she won the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK. As part of his victory The Vivienne was awarded his own online television series, later titled The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood The series premiered on 9 April 2020 on BBC Three and follows him on his trip to Hollywood to produce his own music video.

Career

The Vivienne chose his name because he was known for wearing Vivienne Westwood, adding the definite article to make it unique. She has worked in many Liverpool bars, including Superstar Boudoir, GBar and Heaven. In May 2015, she was crowned the UK Ambassador of RuPaul's Drag Race.
On 21 August 2019, Vivienne was announced as one of the ten contestants to be competing in the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In September 2019, he participated in Jag Race, a racing competition in collaboration with Jaguar Cars. Vivienne raced for Sahir House; a charity that provides a space in which people can speak freely without fear of prejudice, stigma, abuse or exploitation in relation to HIV, based in its hometown of Liverpool. In November 2019, she was crowned the first winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In November to December 2019, Vivienne, alongside the cast of the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, embarked on a tour, hosted by Drag Race alum Alyssa Edwards.
In December 2019, The Vivienne alongside fellow RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestant Baga Chipz began starring in Morning T&T on WOW Presents Plus. The show sees The Vivienne and Baga reprise their Snatch Game impersonations of Donald Trump and Margaret Thatcher, respectively, to host fictional television news show, and consisted of six episodes as of January 2020. At DragCon UK in January 2020 an additional episode was filmed with The Vivienne and Baga appearing as themselves. Guests on the web series included fellow Drag Race UK alumni Sum Ting Wong as Queen Elizabeth II and Cheryl Hole as Gemma Collins.
In March 2020, World of Wonder announced a six-part series The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood, documenting The Vivienne travelling to Los Angeles in order to make a music video. The show premiered on BBC Three on 9 April, and simultaneously started streaming on WOW Presents Plus.
That same month, The Vivienne, once again alongside Baga Chipz, started presenting the UK version of I Like to Watch, a web series produced by Netflix in which they humorously review Netflix programming. The Vivienne has since appeared on Celebrity Juice.
In July 2020, The Vivienne voiced as Donald Trump in the BBC Three documentary Trump in Tweets.

Personal life

The Vivienne was married in 2019. He is also known for his strong Liverpool accent that he uses comedically in his drag performances.

Discography

Singles

As Featured Artist

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015, 2020TransformationsHerselfGuest
2019Jag RaceHerselfBy Attitude
2019-2020Morning T&TDonald TrumpWorld of Wonder original
2020The WOW ReportHerselfGuest
2020I Like to Watch UKHerselfNetflix UK web series
2020God Save the QueensHerselfWorld of Wonder docu-series
2020Vivienne Takes HollywoodHerselfWorld of Wonder original
2020Trump Learns ThingsDonald TrumpWorld of Wonder original
2020The Pit StopHerselfSeason Five, Episode Three