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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Charlotte McIntyre

Dancing On Ice's The Vivienne says 'drag should be enjoyed not feared' ahead of final

The Vivienne, who won RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2019 will be hoping to repeat her winning streak on Sunday in Dancing On Ice 's Grand Final.

Speaking to The Mirror and other press ahead of the final, The Vivienne and her skating partner Colin Grafton spoke about the final three skates ahead of them that stand between the partnership and the Dancing On Ice trophy.

The Vivienne, who is called James Lee Williams out of drag, reflected on what it means to be the first drag performer to take part in the ITV skating competition.

She said: "I just think it's great that we are in the final and that we get to represent and show that drag is something that should be enjoyed not feared because there are far more important matters in the world going on than drag."

The Vivienne and Colin Grafton are through to the final (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"I never would have believed it could have happened," The Vivienne added as she reflected on making it to the final.

On what it would be like to win, she continued: "It'd be fantastic, just to be the first of anything, being the first UK winner of season one of Drag Race and then to be able to be the first drag performer to win Dancing on Ice would be amazing. I think it would be fantastic, what a great beacon of representation."

The Vivienne admitted the moment she believed she could make it all the way was during her Evita performance.

The Vivienne fell on the ice in the semi-final (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"I think when we did our Evita skate, I thought, ‘Okay, this feels powerful.’ It really felt like we looked like figure skaters. When I watched it back, I was like, ‘Oh, this is like moving and this is gorgeous,'" she continued.

However, Colin revealed he knew from the minute The Vivienne stepped onto the ice that she could win the competition.

"I knew from the beginning because of the training and how we were progressing. But, I think one of the things that you have that others didn't was that the skating skill was there from the beginning.

The Vivienne joins Joey and Nile in the final (ITV)

"I knew from the beginning but watching you evolve over the weeks, I think Evita as well was the point where I thought, ‘All right, we definitely have a chance at this.'"

The Vivienne and Colin join TOWIE star Joey Essex and Vanessa Bauer and former Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson and Olivia Smart.

Dancing on Ice: The Final airs Sunday, 6:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX

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