PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE ROSENTHAL

“I’m excited, but nervous,” says Leona Lewis. “I’m everything, a mix of everything!” It has just been announced that the record-breaking British vocalist will be touring the UK next year in support of her repackaged holiday album Christmas, With Love, which includes her best-selling Christmas anthem One More Sleep. Released 19 November, the reissue features a stunning ballad with Ne-Yo, titled Kiss Me It’s Christmas, and a brand new take on The Bee Gees’ beloved disco hit If I Can’t Have You.

Before then, however, Leona will be embarking on a 16-date arena tour across the UK with Gary Barlow, where she will perform some of her most lauded hits, from Bleeding Love to Better in Time and Fire Under My Feet. It’s been five years since Leona embarked on her third headlining solo tour for her fifth studio album, I Am, so that’s where the nerves come in. “Shows went away over the past year,” she says, “so I’m obviously not as used to being out there!”

As well as embarking on a cross-country tour and continuing to cement her status as the (British) Queen of Christmas, Leona will be making her reality television show comeback this year with Paramount+’s highly-anticipated Queen of the Universe. Hosted by Graham Norton, the Eurovision-inspired series will see some of the world’s fiercest drag queens sing in front of a live audience and the “Pop Diva Panel”, which consists of Leona, Michelle Visage, Trixie Mattel and Vanessa Williams. “It’s an international show so we have drag queens from all over the world,” Leona tells GAY TIMES. “All of the drag is very different and they all have different influences. That’s kind of what I love about it, is that you’re seeing so much variation.”

We caught up with Leona to discuss all of the above, as well as her love for drag and her favourite modern Christmas track. And with next month marking 15 years since Leona’s X Factor win – 15 goddamn years – we had the star relive some of her career highlights and her strong affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community.

You’ve repackaged Christmas, With Love and released the magical new single, Kiss Me It’s Christmas, with Ne-Yo. How did this collaboration come to be?

Oh, thank you! I’m glad you like it. I recorded this song about a year and a half ago and it was actually an idea that was presented to me from the same writers as One More Sleep. I love collaborating with those guys, we get along so well and they just get me. This song was presented and I just fell in love with it. So I went in with them, we worked on it together, I put a vocal down, and then originally it was the other writer’s vocal on it as the male vocal. When I listened to it back I just could hear Ne-Yo’s voice. I’ve been a fan of his vocals for a very long time, I’ve worked with him before, and he brings something special to it. So, I reached out to him and then he jumped on it. 

Wait, you’ve been sitting on this song for a year and a half?!

Yeah! We’ve had it a while, I know. I had been thinking about repacking the album and putting it back out there for a while and I just felt like this year felt like the right time to do that.