“The stress brought out great television!” Viola admits of her Drag Race UK run. This year, the violin diva followed in the footsteps of her Queen of the Universe co-star La Voix by joining the ranks of RuGirls, instantly becoming a central figure — so much so that fans have dubbed her three episodes the “Viola Show.”
From being named the season’s most “annoying” queen and sparring with Catrin Feelings, to nailing a lip-sync and impressing Girls Aloud icon Nadine Coyle with her vocals, Viola proved that – whether she intended to or not – she’s a master of reality television.
“I was a bit naive to the stress of TV, because Queen of the Universe was nowhere near as stressful. Because I had done Queen of the Universe, I was like, ‘Oh, it’ll be a cakewalk, it’ll be a piece in the park,’ or whatever they call it,” Viola tells Gay Times a week after her exit. While the experience was an “extremely uncomfortable rollercoaster”, Viola remained authentically herself, asserting: “As Tayris very beautifully put it, as queer people, we shouldn’t dim our voices for anyone.”
Read on for Viola’s full interview, where she reflects on herDrag Race UK journey, the viral reaction to her infamous “dead zombie trapped inside a teddy bear costume,” and her post-show plans to take the worlds of music, theatre, and drag by storm. (P.S. her debut single, ‘Phuck It Up’, is out now!)
Viola, we’re finally speaking with each other! It’s been a week since your Drag Race UK elimination, so how has life been?
It’s positive. I’m excited for my future. I’ve got music and theatre stuff I’m working on… And you know what? I’m just ready to take on the world as a branded “Ru Girl.” And yeah, I can’t wait to see what’s out there for my future, it’s looking really exciting.
I’m glad we’re having a more in-depth chat after our cast interview, and I’ve been a fan since Queen of the Universe season two. Was Drag Race UK, being a Ru Gurl, always the next step?
Yeah, I always wanted to get on Drag Race because of the platform and the opportunities that Drag Race can give you. I mean, I’m only 23, and I filmed when I was 22. I always saw Drag Race as a platform to go on to bigger and better things. So, in some ways, I’m glad that I’ve done it this early because so many doors have been opened for my future now. But in some ways, I also think I was a bit naive to the stress of TV, because Queen of the Universe was nowhere near as stressful. Because I had done Queen of the Universe, I was like, ‘Oh, it’ll be a cakewalk, it’ll be a piece in the park,’ or whatever they call it. And when I arrived, the reality of the stress of Drag Race and the pressure of Drag Race became real.
Well you have been great television, despite the stress.
I mean, the stress brought out the great television!
True. Did you expect that stress to, in turn, make you a central figure in these three episodes?
You never know what moments are going to make it onto camera and what moments won’t be used. So, I knew that I was in my feelings and I was going through it on that first day of the design challenge, but I never thought I would be the main character of it. I knew it was going to be an episode for me because I had the high of, ‘Oh, it’s a design challenge!’ and then I had the low of the voting, and then I had a high of a fun chat with Ru, and then I had a low of chatting with Catrin and all that. Then I had lip-synced, and then I had a high of winning the lip sync. So, it was an extremely uncomfortable rollercoaster. But I did think after the first day, when I had had that little mental [breakdown]… I knew I wasn’t going to win the design challenge — I could tell — but I thought it only makes sense for me to win or lose this. And I knew it was going to be the latter, sadly.
You came across as very authentic. It’s easy for viewers to sit on their sofa and question why you’re being so sensitive about this, that, or the other, but they don’t know what it’s like to be on television, one of the biggest shows in the world, and feel that kind of stress.
Yeah, what happened was stressful and upsetting in itself, but the stress of being on camera whilst all of that was happening, plus the added stress of reflecting on the past week where I had met the girls and, within a matter of days, they had voted me as the most annoying one… and it was a nearly unanimous vote. I was going through the stresses of wanting to make sure my sisters liked me and wanted me to be their friend, whilst also dealing with the stresses of a design challenge, which I had put extreme pressure on myself for, and for some reason was just piling on the pressure, mentioning my textiles degree all the time.
I think I was just trying to motivate myself, like, ‘Come on, Viola, you’ve got this.’ But that obviously came out as confidence and cockiness, whilst also thinking about the last episode, where clearly I had rubbed my sisters the wrong way and was unaware of it. And when I asked them, ‘What is it? What is it that made me the most annoying?’ they were like, ‘Well, we had to vote for someone.’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, but what are the reasons? Because clearly I’m just trying to be myself here, and you’re clearly not getting on with me.’ And they said I’m speaking too much, I’m too loud. At the end of the day, that’s very much me. As Tayris very beautifully put it, as queer people, we shouldn’t dim our voices for anyone. It did affect me. I mean, carrying on with the competition, I definitely was quieter, but at the end of the day, I went on TV to make good TV.
I think that raw authenticity is what makes reality television so great. Being fierce and slaying is a huge part of Drag Race, but seeing that imperfect, human side is crucial.
I appreciate that. I think everybody was 100% being themselves the entire time. I just think it’s a shame that I got into my head so much. I remember when Catrin started speaking to me I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to burst into tears right now.’ I had been very quiet that whole day. I think that moment with Catrin was the last thing we filmed that day. I was kind of just waiting for the cameras to go so I could have the night to sleep on it and come back fresh. But no, Catrin asked me why I was helping my sisters and so on, blah, blah. Because I was hiding all of my hurt feelings that I was going through, I didn’t want to show that to the camera, I didn’t want to be vulnerable in front of the queens… Then I thought, ‘No, I need to be vulnerable right now because otherwise it’s going to eat away at me.’ So, I took a deep breath in after that little confrontation and just imagined the cameras weren’t there and just spoke truthfully.
Let’s talk about this final episode for you. As a musician and Queen of the Universe alum, did you feel confident heading into the girl groups challenge?
At the end of the day, the song was… It doesn’t matter whether you rap or whether you sing, it’s about your performance and about the impact of your lyrics. Obviously, having a good voice helps you when you sing. You don’t want to be singing on a verse and sounding terrible, and that’s probably why none of the girls did. So, it is not that I was feeling confident, I was just really excited to sing because I’d come off the design challenge, which I thought was something that would be a strength, and then ended up being the worst day of my life.
I was just excited to take back a bit of that control and do something that I know that I can do well. Funnily enough, you don’t hear me singing. You don’t hear me shouting about how I’m trained in singing, and I’ve been singing for this long, and I’m doing all this and saying how confident I am, because I don’t need to convince myself that I’m confident. When I was doing the design challenge, it was like, ‘You’ve got this, you’ve got this. It’s going to be fine. You’ve got a textiles degree.’ But when it came to the singing, I was just like, ‘Chill, go out there and sing. You don’t need to tell everybody what you can do. Just go and show them.’
That moment singing in front of Nadine was probably one of the highlights of Drag Race because she was so appreciative and supportive, and I felt like I really impressed her, which was really nice. And yeah, I mean, just singing is my therapy, singing is what I do when I’m feeling happy, feeling sad, whatever, I sing.
And you sashayed down the runway in a look that has proved… divisive. I mean, I thought it was silly, camp, fun, especially the scene where your head is tilted.
Oh, I don’t remember. I mean, I definitely put my head down, but I don’t remember doing that. Bones’ critique has made an absolutely hilarious moment, so I’m so glad that’s in it.
When preparing your runways for Drag Race, did any part of you expect that it would receive such a major reaction?
Yes, that’s the reason I did it. The thing is, obviously, I didn’t intend to go home that week, and I also wasn’t expecting the judges to be so harsh with it. But I was bringing that look not only to represent my kind of quirkier, more artistic, weirder side that I like to explore with drag, but also to impress. I was doing it to impress the judges. I was doing it to be like, ‘No, I’m not just a gorgeous wig and heels. I can do drag and look fantastic without all of that, and I can do drag my way, like this.’ And all the girls thought — I mean, I can’t speak for all the girls — but lots of the girls thought it was a fantastic outfit, and I was so excited to do that. Until I had my critique, I thought that they were going to love it.
It created a really fun moment, and is there anything more important on reality television than being memorable?
It’s boring to watch someone who’s perfect. You want to see a journey with it. I mean, I wish Drag Race had longer episodes, so you could just see more of the challenge and more of the preparing for the challenge, rehearsing for the challenge. I wish we got to see all of that because there’s so much that doesn’t get seen.
The lip-sync for your life was to the beat of Girls Aloud’s ‘Sound of the Underground’, a song that is near and dear to many a homo…
Very dear to me. I love the GA.
Knowing that song is in the gay pop bible, how did you feel heading into the lip-sync?
I went into it thinking I’m going to have to do a death drop and fall from the ceiling into the splits in order to win this. Not because of my outfit, but because of Nyongbella. That was the reason. But when I was doing it, obviously, I was going through the motions. You could hear the wobbling in my voice. I was very upset. But when I got back home is when it clicked to me that, ‘I just lip-synced to one of the most iconic queer songs as a dead zombie trapped inside a teddy bear costume… that is crazy.’
In front of Nadine Coyle.
In front of Nadine Coyle.
That is camp personified.
Absolutely. What an iconic way to go. Wild.
Nyongbella has admitted that she didn’t know all the words. With that in mind, how did you feel about her staying over you?
I think we should move on from that question because if you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all! In the moment, I wasn’t watching her lips. I didn’t know. I thought she’d just won it. But then watching it back… no. At the end of the day, there have been so many times where people that don’t know the words have got through the lip-sync. I personally think that if you don’t know every single word, that doesn’t mean you should be going home just like that. It comes into the criteria of lip-sync: entertainment value, stage presence, lip-sync ability. There’s so many things that come into an overall performance.
I don’t ever lip-sync in my gigs. I do a bit, but only if it’s like a nightclub that isn’t going to appreciate live vocals. I’m not used to lip-syncing. So if it’s about the perfect lip-sync, then I would be at a disadvantage. But if I think about it as this is a performance opportunity, then that is what makes me think that it’s an even playing field. I mean, I’m not judging it. I dunno why I’m talking about that, but call me RuPaul… MooPaul. Call me MooPaul.
On a final note, what’s next for Viola?
Well, you can go and listen to my new song that I would’ve performed at the Talent Show. ‘Pluck It Up’ is everywhere: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube. Go have a listen. It’s a dance track that heavily features my vocals and my jazzy violin. I’m going to continue doing my cabaret show around the country. I’ve got my classic cabaret standup one-hour show, and I will be releasing a Viola’s Drag Race show, where I go through a bunch of songs that brought me to Drag Race, that I may have performed on Drag Race.
And my hopes and dreams for the next year, or the future, is I want to get into theatre. I’ve got no training in it. I’ve got no training in acting or dancing or whatever, but I want to get into performing for the stage, for acting, and just for getting my name up there in the lights and absolutely taking every opportunity, grabbing every opportunity that I can. So if you want to book me, email me!
Drag Race UK season 7 is streaming in the UK on BBC iPlayer.
Listen to Viola’s debut single, ‘Phuck It Up’, below.
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