The Vivienne

James Lee Williams was born to Cassie and Lee Williams on 12 April 1992 and grew up in Colwyn Bay and Towyn.^[1][2] They had a sister, Chanel.^[3] Williams began attending stage school at the age of 5 and performed in a production of Bugsy Malone.^[2] They attended Rydal Penrhos, came out as gay at age 14, and relocated to Liverpool to become a make-up artist at age 16.^[4][2] Williams was of Romani heritage.^[5]

Williams took the drag name Vivienne because they were known for wearing Vivienne Westwood clothing; they later added the definite article to make their name unique. They first discovered drag after watching a YouTube video of Chad Michaels performing a Cher impersonation number at a gay bar, and was further inspired by Derrick Barry's impersonation of Britney Spears.^[2] The Vivienne's first drag show was at Pink in Liverpool, followed by gigs in other bars such as Superstar Boudoir.^[6] On 28 May 2015, The Vivienne competed in a one-day event judged by RuPaul, Katie Price, and Jonathan Ross, taking place at Café de Paris, London, where they were placed in the top two alongside La Voix and then crowned the "UK Drag Ambassador for RuPaul's Drag Race."^[7] They were later flown to Los Angeles to make a cameo appearance on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2016).^[8] The Vivienne briefly lived in Gran Canaria in 2017.^[2]

The Vivienne was a competitor in the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2019.^[9] In the competition, they won three challenges, including the Snatch Game, in which they impersonated American politician Donald Trump and engaged in repartee with Baga Chipz as Margaret Thatcher.^[10] They ultimately won the competition on 21 November 2019 and were crowned "The UK's First Drag Superstar."^[11]

In September 2019, The Vivienne competed with Courtney Act in Jag Race, a web series where drag performers race sports cars for charity in collaboration with Jaguar and Attitude magazine.^[12] They raced for Sahir House, a Liverpool charity that provides a space in which people living with HIV can speak freely without fear of prejudice, stigma, abuse, or exploitation.^[13] In November, they embarked on a three-month tour alongside their competitors from RuPaul's Drag Race UK, hosted by drag performer Alyssa Edwards.^[14] The next month, they reprised their Snatch Game impersonation of Donald Trump alongside Baga Chipz as Margaret Thatcher in Morning T&T, a fictional television news show.^[15] In an interview with Gay Times, they described the series as a "spoof of Good Morning Britain and Good Morning America."^[16]

In 2020, American production company World of Wonder announced a six-part series in which The Vivienne produced a music video while travelling in Los Angeles.^[17] The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood premiered on 9 April 2020 on BBC Three and WOW Presents Plus.^[18] The same month, they and Baga Chipz co-presented I Like to Watch UK, a web series where they humorously review original Netflix programmes.^[19]

The Vivienne made a guest appearance as themself on the soap opera Emmerdale in June 2021.^[20] In January 2022, they starred in Channel 4's Celebrity Hunted in aid of Stand Up to Cancer.^[21] That summer, they competed in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, where former winners of the franchise returned for the title of "Queen of All Queens."^[22] Despite winning three challenges and one lipsync battle, they failed to reach the top four of the season.^[23]

In October 2022, they were announced to be competing in the fifteenth series of the ITV ice-skating reality show Dancing on Ice, making them the first drag artist to participate in the show.^[24] On 12 March 2023, they finished in third place.^[25] In June 2023, they presented the "Scene of the Year" award at the 2023 British Soap Awards.^[26] In 2024, they starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in the UK tour and West End run of The Wizard of Oz.^[27][28] The Vivienne's final television appearance was on the Christmas special of the game show Blankety Blank on 26 December 2024.^{[citation needed]}

Williams used the pronouns they/them^[34][35][36] and was gay.^[37]

In December 2019, Williams married David Ludford^[38] in a ceremony at the gay nightclub Heaven.^[39] The couple confirmed their separation in April 2023 and remained friends.^[40]

In June 2023, Williams was the victim of a homophobic attack in a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool.^[41] Merseyside Police confirmed that 51-year-old Alan Whitfield from Everton made homophobic remarks towards Williams and punched them in the face before leaving the scene.^[42] Williams spoke about the attack to highlight the fact that homophobia still existed in 2023 and urged members of the LGBTQ community to remain vigilant when out in public.^[43] Whitfield was found guilty of assault motivated by homophobia in December 2023^[44] and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison with an 18-month suspended sentence on 5 January 2024.^[45]

Williams struggled with drug addiction throughout their life,^[46] including a ketamine addiction.^[47] They praised the work of the Armistead Centre in Liverpool for their rehabilitation.^[48]