I get Instagram messages saying ‘you inspired me to get clean’
Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne talks to ABI JACKSON about overcoming drug addiction, mental health, and getting to grips with money
RUPAUL’S Drag Race UK isn’t just about the entertainment – it’s a glimpse into the lives behind the showstopping make-up and outfits too. When The Vivienne opened up about overcoming drug addiction during season one in 2019, it started a conversation about an issue often hidden.
“I didn’t really expect to talk about it, but when you’re on a reality TV show you do open up a lot more, because it’s just a pressure cooker of emotions and personalities,” she says now. The Vivienne is glad she did though, as it has enabled her to show others you can beat these things. It took hitting “rock bottom” and being warned she’d be “dead by 30”, if she didn’t stop, for The Vivienne to start turning things around – but she did. She got clean, found love with David Ludford (they’re now married), and of course became the UK’s first Drag Race winner.
She still gets at least 30 messages a day on Instagram, “saying, ‘You inspired me to get clean,’ or, ‘Your story really inspired me’. I love being able to help people with that,” adds the performance artist, now 28. “I also get messages off dads who have just discovered their son really loves Drag Race and they think maybe they’re gay, [saying] ‘I’ve tried everything to try and help him along, what can I do?’ When I reply, I’ll usually say something like, ‘You’re doing everything right. “They’re young, they’ll find their people, they’ll find their tribe, they’ll find out who they are – as long as you are there to love and support them, you’re doing everything right’.”
BREAKING THE TABOO
Today, The Vivienne is talking about another element of this journey: personal finances problems.
She’s teamed up with Experian on a campaign encouraging people to be ‘money positive’ – she knows first-hand how quickly things can spiral, and how much harder it is when no one talks about it. After leaving school at 16 and moving from North Wales to Liverpool, The Vivienne says like lots of people, she was unprepared for the realities of financial independence. “I didn’t really get any training, you know, I wasn’t taught anything about all that at school.
You know you’re going to have bills to deal with, [but] I always looked at it like, ‘Oh look, this flat is £400 a month, I can afford that’ – I kind of forgot there was council tax on top of that, water bills, electricity, wifi, your phone, all these bills.
“And I wasn’t really prepared for the repercussions that would come if you didn’t pay all those bills.”
LOSING SLEEP OVER MONEY
One of those repercussions was constant anxiety.
“It’s horrible. I think money worries have one of the biggest effects on people’s mental health. You kind of know that what you’re doing isn’t great, but if you’re not in a position to deal with it, or having those conversations... I used to lose sleep over it. I’d be scared if there was a knock at the door. I wasn’t educated on how to deal with those things.” There were practical repercussions too, as mounting unpaid bills had dented her credit score. A reality check came when she tried to take out a new phone contract, but was refused when she failed the credit score check.
“It was a hard lesson. I’m only now really getting in a good financial position, because I’ve learned about all that stuff.
“My dream now is me and David want to buy a house, so [getting my finances in order] has been really important, to make sure I can set up for a mortgage in the future.”
For The Vivienne, being ‘money positive’ means lots of things – including talking and taking positive action.
She says she wishes she’d known sooner that there are solutions, like payment plans to help you pay off mounting debts.
As someone who knows the value of speaking up about hidden issues, she’s glad to be part of the conversation.
“Another reason I wanted to get on board with this campaign was so I could really have open and honest conversations about what kind of mess I got into, and maybe share some knowledge with younger people, and older people who may still not be super educated on personal finances.
“There is such a social stigma around [money problems], but maybe if I’d talked more about it back then, I would have been in a much better mental state about it. But I was so scared to talk about it. “I think when you do have those conversations, you can kind of go, ‘Oh right, so there are solutions out there, there is a way I can get myself out of this’. It’s a great feeling, and it puts you in such a better position for your financial future.”
I used to lose sleep over it. I’d be scared if there was a knock at the door. The Vivienne on her money worries
■ Experian Boost is a free new service that can help people boost their credit score through sharing more information on some of their regular payments, such as Netflix, Spotify and council tax. Visit experian.co.uk/consumer/ experian-boost.html
THE beautiful spell of weather recently will have enticed many of us outdoors to examine the garden.
None of our plots look their best right now so we really appreciate bursts of colour from yellow daffs and the purple and orange crocus. Colour lifts the spirits and it’s what most of us want from our outdoor spaces. One plant that will deliver this in spades from mid-summer to late autumn is the dahlia – and March is the month to coax those tubers into life or start growing them from seed. For a while, dahlias were drifting out of fashion but they are undergoing a renaissance as gardeners appreciate the variety of shapes, sizes and their long-flowering ability. Deadhead them and they will keep popping out flowers – and in some milder areas they may be the last flower standing in December. They make superb cut flowers, enjoying a good vase life, and cutting will also stimulate further growth. However, novice gardeners may be put off by technical talk of lifting and storing tubers in the winter and believe dahlias to be difficult. Not true.
The key to growing dahlias is understanding they originate in Mexico which makes them sun lovers and unable to withstand frost. This means you don’t plant them out until after frost has gone, which can be anywhere from midMay to early June depending on your location. And then you need to get them out of the ground for winter, unless you are somewhere mild and they will survive under a nice warm blanket of mulch. Dahlias can be grown from
Bishop of Auckland tubers or seed. Seed is a much cheaper way – for a couple of quid you’ll get a packet of seeds which will give you maybe 25 or more plants whereas one tuber alone can cost the same.
If you want to grow an exact variety, tubers are the way to go as seeds give variable results – but this can be part of the fun too. Surface sow seed in a seed tray and sieve a light dusting of compost or vermiculite on top and water in. Keep in a light warm place and after germination, when seedlings are large enough to handle, you can pot them singly into three-inch pots.
Tubers can be potted now in damp compost and kept in a light, frost-free place such as a greenhouse, cold frame or windowsill. When you’re ready to plant dahlias outside, choose a sunny position for maximum flowering. Adding well-rotted manure or compost to the planting hole will help with fertility and drainage. But if your soil is very heavy clay, you could pop some horticultural grit at the bottom of the hole.
Your tuber will have produced lots of shoots at this stage, but it’s a good idea to nip out a few and leave just five – it will make the plant bushier and stronger.
You will need stakes for some of the taller and heavier varieties so it’s a good idea to install them at the same time as planting and then you can tie in the dahlias as they grow. Keep them watered while they establish and use a high potash feed while they grow, such as a tomato feed.
As flowers finish, deadhead them but be careful not to take off new buds as it’s easy to get mixed up – new buds are round in shape, seed heads are conical.
Dinner plate blowsy varieties like ‘Cafe au Lait’ are in vogue now – with delicious coffee cream petals with a blush of pink. Classic tight pompons such as ‘Franz Kafka’, with its perfect curved, deep pink petals, are lollipop and fun. Pollinators prefer the simple single flowers with an easy route to the nectar – these include any of the Bishop series with that wonderful deep dark foliage as well. There’s a dahlia to please everyone.