IT’S BEEN A DRAG, BUT WE’RE BACK
DRAG Queen Violet Velvet loves glittery mini skirts, lip syncing and salaciously dancing on a stage – and Gold Coasters can’t get enough of it.
With inspiration from TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race, she has become a famous face at The Avenue’s Dragalicious and Drag Queen Bingo at Miami Marketta and Southport Sharks within a year.
Out of drag, Violet Velvet is Zac Roberts, selfdescribed as a “tall, flamboyant and proud gay man”.
The colourful 25-year-old tells the Bulletin he was drawn to the “fabulous yet very trashy” world after a failed acting career.
Zac said he happily threw away his ambition to become an actor when he found his “drag mum” Natasha St James, also known as Nelson Baker. “After countless auditions, I realised the acting world was brutal,” he said.
“I was told there was only ever going to be one role for me because I had a feminine voice. But in 2016 I found drag and fell in love.
“Nelson, the best Gold Coast drag queen, took me under his wing and taught me everything he knows.
“Not just makeup skills, wigs and clothing but how to be a professional women.
“At the end of the day Miss Violet Velvet has now become my business.
“Rather than acting, drag has given me the opportunity to go out on the stage and do whatever the hell I want, have a great time and provide punters with great entertainment.”
Violet’s aesthetic includes a 1.5 hour process of shaving, extensive makeup, glue, hip and bum pads and six to eight layers of compression bandages. Zac creates and sews most of his glittery dresses (including the one pictured), and has about four outfit changes per gig.
When dancing around the high school drama studio at Emmanuel College in 2013, Zac said he never dreamt of a drag life but now there is no stopping him.
“Since I started working as a queen in 2019, I am the happiest I have ever been,” he said.
“I want other LGBT people to feel the same but there aren’t many safe spaces for us on the Gold Coast, only the events Natasha St James has created.
“I would love to see a gay bar reopen on the Coast because it’s really needed.”
After a time away from the stage due to COVID-19, Violet Velvet made a highlyanticipated return to Miami Marketta’s Drag Bingo on Wednesday night. “It’s so exciting to be back, please don’t ever bottle up creative people again,” he laughed.