I started drag two years ago at 13 – my mum and nan are my biggest supporters

I’ve always had a passion for performing (Picture: Kosmo)

I was literally shaking in my boots as I walked from the back of the hall and onto the stage.

As I hit the runway, my anxiety peaked – this was my first time in front of an audience in drag.

When I got to the end of the stage, I looked out into the crowd and saw my mum, 70-year-old nan and school friend beaming with pride back up at me. That’s when I felt my confidence soar.

This is the moment I knew drag was my calling – I was only 14 at the time.

I’ve always had a passion for performing. As early as four years old, I can recall blasting One Direction songs while singing along and dancing around my bedroom.

I started trying out different styles of drag queens that I loved like Tayce, Krystal Versace and Gigi Goode (Picture: Kosmo)

This led to getting involved in an after-school club called ‘street dance’, then a dance academy for several years, as well as theatre productions and pantomimes. Being on the stage has always been a place where I’ve felt the most confident.

Then lockdown hit in early 2020 – when I was 13 – and all that was taken away. I didn’t really know how to channel my energy but then one day I noticed a new TV recommendation pop up for me.

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4. I was intrigued so I sat down with my mum to watch it while eating dinner one night. Immediately, I loved Monét X Change, Monique Heart, Naomi Smalls and Jasmine Masters – the latter I recognised from viral memes like her ‘and I oop!’ video.

We devoured that season and then set out watching the many other ones, as well as all the international franchises and now Dragula too. My mother jokes she doesn’t really get a choice when it comes to watching Drag Race with me – her favourite queen is Drag Race UK’s Baga Chipz!

After a couple of weeks of first bingeing anything drag-related, I asked my mum if she would order me a wig from Amazon. I found a £9 brown shoulder-length bob that – looking back – was so dry and crunchy but when I tried it on for the first time, I felt incredible. 

I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t stop swishing it around. Something sparked in me at that moment so I asked my mum if we could get some make-up that I could play around with too.

So we went to Boots to pick up some foundation, concealer and a little eyeshadow pallet. When I tried it on (with a lot of help from YouTube tutorials), I may have looked like Boo Boo The Fool but you could not tell me anything!

From that moment, I became obsessed. I expanded my make-up collection, then started trying out different styles of drag queens that I loved like Tayce, Krystal Versace and Gigi Goode.

I just kept practising my make-up and performance skills (Picture: Kosmo)

By Christmas, I got my first lace-front wig and again, it wasn’t perfect, but I loved it. For the next year, I kept practising my make-up and performance skills, as well as sourcing more looks.

At the end of 2021, I saw a Facebook post promoting a local drag competition via a group I was in. I’d never done anything like it before but something in me really wanted to test out the skills I’d picked up over the past year and a half.

So, after asking my mum if it was OK, I sent a message to the organiser to query if I might be able to compete. She said it was fine, so long as I had a chaperone with me and my mum happily agreed.

The competition had several elements to it – a runway, Q&A, reading challenge and then lip sync performance. As a dancer, I knew the latter would be my biggest strength.

I did two performances – to the songs Fighter by Christina Aguilera and Tik Tok by Kesha – with a bunch of flips, kicks, death drops and a wig that accidentally flew off. Looking back, I probably looked like a dying cockroach!

My biggest supporter throughout it all has been my mum (Picture: Kosmo)

Standing on the stage with my two competitors while we waited to find out the result was the hardest part of the whole thing. While all holding hands with baited breath, the announcer said my name as the winner and I was just in a state of shock. I thought: How did this 14-year-old drag queen just beat people in their 20s?

After the show, my mum gave me a big hug, said she was so proud of me and knew that this is what I was meant to be doing – even though she worries for me when I do death drops!

Ever since then, my drag has flourished. I’d describe Kosmo – my drag persona – as a femme, robotic, cyborg alien. I’m 15 and I’ve done bigger competitions and gigs since – sometimes competing against people two or even three times my age.

It’s hard to predict where my drag will go (Picture: Kosmo)

I also have a drag family – the Haus of Grande – who I met after I bought a secondhand wig from one of them. My drag mother, Paris Grande, has helped with costumes, wigs and gigs but has been such a source of emotional support too. 

My biggest cheerleaders throughout it all have been my nan and my mum – I feel so lucky for having them in my life. Whatever I need – like wigs and outfits – and wherever I have to go, my mum will do whatever she can to make it happen. But more than that, she’s like a best friend.

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A lot of queer people my age don’t have the type of relationship we have – or it might be conditional – but she completely accepts me for who I am. I love her and my nan so much.

In terms of my future, it’s hard to predict where my drag will go. Until I’m 18 and allowed to perform in pubs or clubs, I don’t really know where I’ll end up. Maybe I’ll even be on RuPaul’s Drag Race one day!

I just know that I’ll be on a stage performing for a very long time to come – with my mother in the audience cheering me on every step of the way.

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I’m 15 and have already competed in – and won – drag competitions.