Queens Of The Scots: In Conversation with Ellie Diamond and Lawrence Chaney

Are you #TeamLawrence or #TeamEllie? The first queens to grace the Drag Race UK stage from north of the border, Lawrence Chaney and Ellie Diamond face the much-awaited Series 2 finale this Thursday. Lawrence and Ellie have brought us sparkle and sass during lockdown, representing Glasgow and Dundee in a series that will undoubtedly go down in Drag Race herstory. 

From Ellie’s custom candy catwalk look to Lawrence’s iconic United Kingdolls performance, any drama between these two has been put aside for a sisterhood of Scottish queens with talent busting at the seams. Over a cold can of Irn Bru (literally), the stars chat about mental health, fast fashion, meeting your heroes and supporting your local drag scene.

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First of all, what surprised you most about filming Drag Race, and is there anything you wish people knew about behind-the-scenes experience?

Lawrence: The part I was most nervous about was that I look up to RuPaul so much. I've stolen a cardboard cut-out of RuPaul that I think I took off a bus or something like 10 years ago, and I still have that in my room. I idolised Ru for so long and I was so worried. You know, they say never meet your heroes. And Ru was lovely. So so kind. So so sweet.

Ellie: Production really did take care of you. Especially because of lockdown and COVID and stuff like that. There was a lot of PPE, hand sanitizer, face masks, temperatures taken and all that stuff even before you stepped on the bus. And that was very reassuring that we were staying safe.

Next up, lip sync songs - there have been a lot of requests for more UK anthems. What would be your ideal tune if you had to choose?

Ellie: DJ Bad Boy, why not? That'd be so funny. Then probably something like Cascada.
Lawrence: I want some Adele, you know, because I like ballads and emotions. And I can cosplay as her.

Lawrence, I know you had stepped back from Twitter recently, and you’ve both spoken on the show about mental health during lockdown. How has the pressure of being more a public figure impacted you?

Lawrence: It's overly very positive you know, the love and support outweighs all the negatives. But it's hard to take because this cast is pretty amazing. Like, the first sent home was Joe Black, and Joe is so talented. So each week, fans will be upset by who goes away and it's the nature of the game. I try to remember that I'm a fan of the show as well. And, you know, I'd be supporting my fave to the end. I mean, I took a step back because I refuse to be a doormat for people to just put hate. And I refuse to let them think that they've gotten to me. I'm just like, 'nope'. So I just removed that element completely. But yeah, total love and support from loads and loads of people.

Ellie: At the end of the day, it's a reality TV show. It's something made for TV. We're playing the game, and we're family, so we argue, we bicker, we fight, but at the end of it, it all comes from a place of love. So therefore, what gives you the right to then come in and be negative to that? It doesn't really help the situation at all.

There has been a lot of talk about privilege in drag after Ru Paul’s H&M comment back in episode 5.  How does that narrative on cheap fashion impact much you're spending on drag? And do you think the conversation is shifting at all?

Ellie: You can buy dresses from Primark or H&M, you know, I've done that before, but it's how you wear it, I guess. I know especially for me, I can't buy off of websites like that. It needs to be custom done, or done yourself. If you're on a budget, it's a lot harder. But then that's why I alway say learn how to do it yourself.

Lawrence: Ru said the quote “I don't want to see any H&M”, but she also said you better glitter the fuck out of it or rhinestone it. That's what I did with my drag when I started, I remember. I'd get a leotard from Primark, paint it or glitter it and whatever. 

Scotland has previously been underrepresented in Drag Race. How would you describe the drag scene in Scotland? And how can people in Scotland better support it too?

Lawrence: I think the Scottish drag scene is very creative. It's very wacky, bizarre and fabulous. So as a Scottish queen, it's never been about the money. It's always been about creativity. It's always been about being resourceful with your looks. I think having two Scottish queens in the final is a testament to that kind of hard work. That work ethic is what growing up in the Scottish scene does to you, because you don't just have one gig a week at £200, you've got seven gigs, and they're all £15 each. So you need to do 14 gigs to make a good amount of money that week, you know?

Ellie: I guess just like not being an arsehole and just supporting the queens that you like. There's no point in dwelling on people that you don't like, just don't mention their name. It's kind of hard at the moment to support [drag in Scotland], but like all of the queens, share their posts, and try to engage as much as you can on social media because that's the platform that we have at the moment as you can't do live shows. If you generally do want to support them financially, be like 'Hey I love the work that you're doing, have you got a PayPal account? Love to send some money as a tip'. And buy merch! If they have merch, buy the merch.

Words: Ruth MacGilp | Illustrations: Vernon Luna, Moonsparkx

BBC Three brings the final episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK to BBC iPlayer from 7pm Thursday 18 March.