Ella Vaday, real name Nick Collier, has had a rollercoaster ride over the past few years, from performing in the West End, to stacking shelves at Morrisons, to being one of the finalists of the third series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, and now she is set to take to the stage as part of the LGBTQ+ Stand-Up Comedy Festival.
The popular drag performer will be taking to the stage on Wednesday evening at 21Soho where she will host a fabulous night of comedy with performers including headliner James Barr, Jack Step, Iffy, Maddie HW, Mark Bittlestone and Alison Zrada. Speaking about what to expect, Ella said: "I'm just going to be chatting about what's been going on in the last couple of years since my whole world turned upside down. Various random bits and bobs and whatever the hell has been going on in Ella Vaday's life."
In a time where anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes are on the rise, the importance of the show isn't lost on her as she described performing at the show as an "honour" and emphasised the importance of nurturing rising queer talent. "It's great to be part of a festival which is really celebrating LGBTQ+ performers, and highlighting them," she explained. "Not only gay, lesbian performers, but also trans people that need elevating, especially at this time.
"It is there for up and coming talent, because you always need a platform to start. I started at Pride, and I didn't get paid to do that. It gets you used to more followers and gets some videos out there of you, all of these up and coming people will hopefully go on and get some amazing work and have an amazing career. We're really at a time where we need comedy that is dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community because there's so much humour and that is what binds everybody together no matter what you think about someone else. We all love a laugh and what better people to make you laugh than people that have probably been through the most already in their lives just trying to work out who they are."
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Like all shows across the festival, Ella's Elluva Comedy Night is supporting Rainbow Migration, which helps LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, and Ella described supporting the charity as a "two in one", with the festival also highlighting LGBTQ+ comedy talent. She shared: "The fact the community can come together, and everyone can watch it support them, for me, that is such a huge thing with everything I do. I love to support charities and people that need help, we're going to such a time at the minute where we all need to help each other."
Rainbow Migration isn't the only charity that the 34-year-old supports and during Pride Month, she will undertake a 100km trek in order to raise money for breast cancer charity CoopaFeel! after her mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. The star shared how she had been doing plenty of training for the challenge, alongside her pet dog who is much "fitter" now and joked the only potential hardship is the "camping".
The worlds of drag have been rocked recently, not only with anti-drag legislation being proposed across America, but also with the passing of legends Paul O'Grady and Barry Humphries, also known by their alter egos, Lily Savage and Dame Edna Everage.
Ella explained how the two had laid the groundwork for shows like RuPaul's Drag Race and she had special memories of Paul, who she had previously worked with on The Paul O'Grady Show. Ella said: "I was really sad about Paul O'Grady I worked on his show as a runner and there's a tiny bit of footage of me holding some kittens for SuBo dressed in Scottish regalia, really random. Paul was such a lovely guy and it was when he came back after having some health problems. His passing was really sad because he was such a national treasure, growing up watching him on Blankety Blank and him being a presence. He's such an iconic person from Britain who'll never be replaced."
Ella is recently back from Los Angeles, having been a part of DragCon LA, something she described as a "challenge" when compared to DragCon UK, which was hosted back in January. She joked about the UK's ease of access when getting to the venue, and also battling the LA heat, especially in one of her daring leather looks. But she fundamentally called it an "amazing experience" meeting her American fans and having a reunion with her series 3 sisters.
But as to whether Ella Vaday might make a reappearance in the Drag Race universe, she played it very coy, teasing: "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, maybe I was asked, maybe I wasn't, who knows?"
One way she will be popping up on screens soon is in feature film Sumotherhood, which will be released on 23 November, alongside stars like Jennifer Saunders, Ed Sheeran and Peter Serafinowicz. Although she didn't give too much away, she revealed that she spent two days on set, and that being the only drag queen present left the makeup artist "obsessed" with her.
Ella joked: "She was asking me tips about how I did my makeup and stuff, bearing in mind I'm not a makeup artist and it was six in the morning. I was like: 'Please don't look too close, or get your eyes tested'."
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Outside of the drag world, Ella keeps it real and recently opened up to her nearly 300,000 Instagram followers about the recent physical and emotional transformation that has seen her begin to feel like she was again ahead of fame and the pandemic. Speaking about the post, she explained: "As soon as March 2020 hit everything went crazy. Not only did I lose essentially everything that I've been doing for about 12 years, I had no income, didn't know where my career was going, then started Drag Race and touring.
"At the end of last year after I'd done four or five tours, as well as traveling around the country, I felt drained, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I didn't really recognize myself. I looked stressed, and so this year, I really focused on working on and looking after myself. When you do drag all the time, you put all of your effort into the next outfit, the next gig. Now, I've been working on my body, working on my diet, looking after myself, and it feels fantastic. I'm ready to take on the world right now. I'm not saying that I had a terrible time in the last couple of years, but it was a full-on experience. You go from zero to 100 when you're on Drag Race, and nothing can prepare you for that ever, it's unlike anything else, it's one of those shows that everyone in the whole world watches and everyone has an opinion on you."
To find out more about the Festival, acts performing and to purchase tickets, visit here.
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