The Vivienne on replaying the emotional Semi-Final personal skate: ‘I cry every time’
"The hardest part was getting into position."
Ahead of the grand final of Dancing on Ice, The Vivienne has opened up about her emotional personal skate in the semi-final.
Last week the Liverpool queen, 30, took a brief stumble during one routine. However, she stunned judges and audiences alike with her personal skate to Eva Cassidy’s ‘Over the Rainbow’.
She’ll be competing against Joey Essex and Nile Wilson and their respective partners, Vanessa Bauer and Olivia Smart in the final on Sunday night (12 March)
Speaking to Attitude ahead of the grand final, The Vivienne also blasted a ban on drag shows in the US state of Tennessee.
How are you doing after last weekend?
Sore knees and bloody shins. Just a bit bruised and battered but we’ll be fine. I was back on the ice for six hours on Monday. And we’ve got three skates to learn for Sunday’s show. The big one!
How are you feeling about it?
Really good. I think it’s gonna be a good week. It’s a jam-packed week of training and learning everything. And I just want to get there, I can smell the trophy.
What do you make of the reaction that you’ve had so far?
It’s been amazing and being able to do it [Dancing on Ice] on mainstream TV has been just fantastic. The reaction has been so positive. Especially now with the whole madness that’s going on around drag, which is why I said what I said on Sunday. When I said yes to the show I never wanted it to be about me being a drag queen. I just wanted to be a drag queen competitor. Let’s make this as fun and entertaining as possible, like I always do with drag. But the conversation has become so loud around drag and it is so under attack.
I feel honoured that I’m able to be on such a huge platform every Sunday night and show that drag is just fun and entertainment. That’s all it is. There are bigger issues in the world going on than drag queens entertaining people. But apart from that, it’s a surreal experience all around. I’ve enjoyed it so much, completely fell in love with skating and I’m just happy to put a smile on people’s faces on a Sunday night.
Have you had a chance to watch your personal skate back?
Yeah, I have watched it back and I cry every time. The hardest part was getting into position because they actually played the VT on the big screen behind us while we were warming up. I was trying to block out my words and not let them make me an absolute emotional wreck. And that was the first time Colin (Grafton) and I had finished a routine and not hit the end position that we choreographed. I think we both just fell into each other’s arms. I could feel his body shaking and crying and then I started crying. My family was there [too] and I think that was the moment that really hit home what a perfect week for that to happen, in the midst of all this.
What’s been the best moment so far?
I think the whole thing, from stepping out on the ice months ago, meeting the cast, every single one of them has been amazing and supportive, and seeing them go every week, it’s been so hard. Getting to form such a close bond with Colin – it’s his first year on Dancing On Ice as a professional skater. So for him to be able to experience that as well. I’m proud of that. I wanted to make him proud. I’m happy for him. So it’s good.
Did you ever see yourself as a skater? It terrifies me!
I’ve been on the ice maybe three times in my life. You know when you go with friends and there’s always one friend that wants to go skating. My mum always said ‘You’re gonna lose your fingers. I’ve seen someone get their fingers chopped off!’ and I’m like, ‘Mum you haven’t.’ But I’ve always watched the show and just thought how on earth are they learning to do that in such a short amount of time? It’s also inspired me to do other things.
I’m 31 in April so I’m gonna learn to drive now. I think I want to learn to play the piano. It really has shown me that wherever you are in life, keep learning new things. And it’s got me in shape. And I really have a huge respect now, I mean I’ve always had respect for any athlete, but my body feels like it’s aged about 10 years. I don’t want the journey to end but my body does.
Are you looking forward to a break after the weekend?
I’ve got two weeks off. And then I go out on the Haters Roast UK tour with all the girls, so I’ve got two weeks to recover.
Having done Drag Race UK, All Stars and now Dancing on Ice, is there anything any other reality shows that you’re looking forward to doing?
Oh, I’d love to go to the jungle! I’d love to go. I think that would be harder than Dancing On Ice. I know it would. Me, spiders, snakes, and jumping out of helicopters. Urgh! But until you do it, and I think that’s the only way I’d ever get to do that. I’m a thrill seeker. I love roller coasters and stuff, but jumping out of a plane or anything like that has always been one thing I’ve said I couldn’t do willingly. So, I think that would be the only thing that would get me to jump out of something. I’d be up for it.
The grand final of Dancing on Ice airs on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 12 March at 6:30pm.