ITV Dancing On Ice's The Vivienne worried about…

ITV Dancing On Ice's The Vivienne worried about 'underdog' skater

Liverpool drag queen The Vivienne has revealed who they think is their biggest competition on ITV's Dancing On Ice.

The 30-year-old was the first contestant to perform on the second episode of the new series of the skating competition. Starting off strong, The Vivienne scored 28.5 points thanks to their performance to Strong Enough by Cher with their dance partner Colin Grafton. Dressed in a black curly wig and sparkly black outfit, The Vivienne paid homage to the US singer with twists and jumps and rounded off the routine with a dramatic lift.

The first-ever winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race made history as the first drag queen to compete on Dancing On Ice. However, The Vivienne told the ECHO that ice skating in drag isn’t as easy as they make it look.

They said: “The drag itself (is the biggest challenge). We’re competing with a lot of elastic, adhesives, wigs, foam hips and corsets, so learning to skate in a tracksuit is a bit different to skating in full drag.”

Nonetheless, they also revealed that it does have its advantages as well including being injury-proof. They added: “I can’t feel a thing, I fell once on my hips and didn’t feel a thing I just literally bounced back up. Colin’s heart was in his mouth, he thought I’d broken my neck but I was like, ‘No I’m fine. Let’s go'. I recommend hip pads to all skaters.”

The Vivienne is the first drag queen to compete on Dancing on Ice (ITV)

Wanting to show viewers, they are a serious competitor and also determined to bring home another crown for Liverpool, The Vivienne is straying away from the stereotypical songs and performances.

They said: “I wanted to do this as an artist and not just a drag gimmick. I didn’t want to do musicals like Priscilla Queen of the Desert or Kinky Boots, The Rocky Horror Show, or the obvious stuff. I want to do it as a serious artist. Drag is what I do, but RuPaul’s Drag Race doesn’t define me, so I didn’t want to go down the obvious route.”

Last night, Sunday, January 22, viewers watched as John Fashanu became the first celebrity to be eliminated from the 2023 series. Following the public vote, the former footballer found himself in the dreaded skate-off against Ekin-Su. While the Love Island contestant won herself another shot to dance again next week, The Vivienne is keeping an eye out for Joey Essex.

Asked who their biggest competition was, The Vivienne said: “Definitely Nile, I mean he’s an Olympic gymnast so we know he’s going to be good. But Joey has surprised me. A lot of this is a skill but there’s also the selling of the skating aspect of it and Joey can go out there in a bin bag and just be the most gorgeous, charismatic skater so I think Joey is going to be a little underdog."