DANCING on Ice star The Vivienne has spoken about her severe ketamine addiction, which left doctors fearing for her life after she was hospitalised.
The drag queen, 30, landed herself in hospital three times in one month after she was taking the drug at “breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
She said how she first became hooked on the substance after working on the Liverpool club scene.
She told The Mirror: “I could have three bags of it just putting my face on. I did it on and off for four years. I was getting evicted from apartments, I had no money.”
After realising that she needed to make a drastic change, she moved from Liverpool to Gran Canaria six years ago to get clean.
Before she moved to Spain, she sought help from an NHS centre in Liverpool.
She said that she knew people over in Spain who asked her to do a gig for Pride.
“I did it, I was there for a week, and I felt like myself and I hadn’t touched a thing all week,” she said.
She also met her now-husband David Ludford and said that moving abroad “changed her life”.
At the time when she won RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2019, The Vivienne – whose real name is James Lee Williams – had been sober for two years.
Her manager, Kevin Kirby, who looks after Liverpool’s Superstar Boudoir, said that she took a “massive pay cut” to go over there, but she told him that it was something she needed to do.
Her move was a great success, not only because she got clean, but because she very quickly became one of the top drag queens in the area.
The Vivienne, who is set to skate in the Dancing on Ice final on Sunday, suffered a nasty fall during her solo routine in the semi-final.
She quickly got back on her feet and appeared to brush it off pretty well.
She told the show’s hosts, Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield: “My knees are hurting a little bit but I’m fine. We’re dancing on ice. Things happen.
Phillip then chimed in: “That’s live skating for you.”
