I’ll dance as Barbie but I’ve never been happier than with my real life Ken
Blu is tickled pink with life as she tells of a proposal, a new house and preparing a routine from hit movie
WITH a recent proposal from her real life Ken and a new dream home to call her own, make-believe really has come true for Dancing with the Stars contestant Blu Hydrangea.
Speaking ahead of her performance tonight – a routine to the Dua Lupa hit Dance the Night from the smash hit Barbie movie – the Belfast drag queen is loving every minute of life right now.
‘This week I feel very much that the energy is me,’ she told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
‘I’m having a lot of fun with it, and obviously being dressed up as Barbie is something I’m not a stranger to.
‘I’ve definitely dressed up as Barbie a few times in my life.’
She revealed her real life Ken recently popped the question, and the couple have just bought their very own ‘dream house’.
‘I have a partner of 10 years,’ Blu said. ‘He just proposed to me in December, and we just bought our own place – we’re having the best time since we’ve got our dream house.’
Blu, who topped the leaderboard last week, said impressing the judges and the public takes more than just fancy footwork, and getting dolled-up for showtime can be a marathon task on its own.
‘It takes me about an hour and a half to get fully ready for the show. There’s a lot more that goes on… like finding where the best place for when my mic pack is, figuring out if I need to wear pads this week,’ she laughs.
While Blu has impressed judges and viewers with her skills on the dancefloor, she admits some of the social media commentary she has endured has dashed a little rain on her pink parade.
‘It’s been the first time I did get some negative feedback, like people saying, “I can’t stand him”. The fact that they call me “him” means that they’re not coming from a good place, because obviously when I’m in drag, I go by female pronouns.
‘I was also told I was a “freak show”, you know, stuff like that.’
But Blu is determined to stay positive, and says participating on DWTS has been an eye-opening experience.
‘I would normally take part in shows that have a queer audiences.
‘I kind of realised going on this show that you know it is going to be a wider audience of people who might not understand people like me.’
And she has resolved not to let the trolls and keyboard warriors affect her performances.
‘I just understand that these people are very intense.
‘They’re not willing to open their mind or listen to other people’s point of views. And there’s nothing I can do to change that,’ she adds.