10 hours Ago By Marcus Wratten
The sister of James Lee Williams, aka RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne, has said that the star may not have sought help for their struggle with ketamine due to “stigma” surrounding drug addiction.In an interview with Victoria Derbyshire for BBC Newsnight, Chanel Williams explained that she and her family only learnt of her sibling’s ketamine addiction after the star opened up about it during their appearance on Drag Race UK season one.She shared her belief that the drag performer kept their struggle a secret in order to “protect” their family.
The Vivienne was found dead at their home near Chester on 5 January this year. At the time, Chester Police confirmed there were no “suspicious circumstances” surrounding the star’s passing, but a post-mortem examination discovered an “unnatural cause of death”.Last month, Chanel Williams and her family shared that the star’s cause of death was a cardiac arrest as a result of taking ketamine.
Though The Vivienne spoke of her addiction to the drug on Drag Race UK, she also spoke of her sobriety journey.The Vivienne spoke of her struggle with ketamine during her season of Drag Race UK. (Getty)Williams explained to the BBC that her sibling had experienced “a really long period of sobriety” before relapsing, which the family only learnt of after they died.
During her interview with Derbyshire, Williams said she believed The Vivienne may not have sought support for their relapse due to “stigma” surrounding addiction.“He’d spoken openly on Drag Race about the battles he’d had with addiction, and he’d come through the other side of that.“He was at the height of everything he was doing and I think because he’d said it in such a open platform, it’s really difficult to come back and say you’re struggling again.
”She continued: “It’s hard for me because I think if that stigma wasn’t there, would my brother have sought the help he needed?“To think that if we’d known, or if he’d have felt able to talk and really reach out for the help that was needed, the outcome could’ve been different.”The Vivienne died aged 32 from a cardiac arrest after taking ketamine. (Getty)Before their death, The Vivienne had begun a successful career in musical theatre, starring as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz in London and as the Childcatcher in a touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Their manager and friend Simon Jones recently shared that they had a long-term plan to see The Vivienne perform on Broadway.Williams and her family are now working with substance abuse charity Adferiad to raise awareness of the dangers of ketamine and to tackle stigma related to drug use.The family are also campaigning to encourage the government to reclassify ketamine from a Class B drug to a Class A drug.
If the reclassification came into effect, it would place ketamine alongside drugs considered the most dangerous, including heroin and cocaine. Non-medical usage of ketamine has grown substantially in the UK in recent years, particularly among young people. Recent data suggests that between 2006-2007 and 2022-2023, usage of ketamine among young people grew by roughly 2.
9 per cent.Williams said that though her sibling’s death has been “heartbreaking” for their family, they hope The Vivienne’s legacy will be “to help other people”.“I know that he would want us to turn this into something more positive that can get the message out there, that we can make changes and we can get people to listen.
”An inquest into The Vivienne’s death is scheduled to begin on 30 June. The full interview with Chanel Williams will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer at 10:30pm BST on 22 April.The post The Vivienne’s family first learned about star’s ketamine struggle on Drag Race appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.
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