Drag Race UK icons perform sensational tribute to ‘brightest light’ The Vivienne

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Earlier in the night, The Vivienne’s father Lee Williams and sister accepted the icon award on their loved one’s behalf. As they stepped onto the stage, they received a standing ovation from the crowd.

‘James loved being a part of the entertainment world and I know he would have been happy. I know he would have absolutely loved tonight’s events,’ Lee shared in a moving speech.

Becoming emotional, he continued: ‘When he was nominated for the Metro award for rising star last year he was honoured and made up to be here. While it is extremely bittersweet to be here tonight without him, being under this roof meant the world to him.

The Vivienne’s family accepted the award on their behalf (Picture: Lucy Young)

‘Thank you to everyone for your huge love and support to James.’

Explaining exactly why The Vivienne was chosen, Rylan, 36, said: ‘The Vivienne as we know was a true force of nature in the drag world, breaking barriers and inspiring so many of us with their talent, wit and heart. They were a true icon and the legacy will live on in everything that they did.

‘Tonight, we are paying tribute to The Vivienne at the Metro Pride Awards, with the Metro Pride Awards icon award

Simon also shared some words for their friend (Picture: Lucy Young)

The Vivienne’s publicist Simon Jones also shared what made their friend so special.

He became emotional as he spoke about their talent, and was later comforted by kind Rylan.

Simon was back on stage later in the evening to accept the LGBT+ trailblazer award, which was presented to him by Girls Aloud stars Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. He sweetly dedicated his win to The Vivienne.

‘Viv was the absolute definition of a trailblazer and her light will shine on us forever,’ he stated.

The Vivienne’s friends wanted to honour them with a performance (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)

Michael, 41, told Metro why taking part in the tribute was an obvious decision: ‘It’s so important that we honour her because she paved the way – no one’s done it like her.

‘She was moving in spaces that drag queens weren’t able to move in for a long time, and now all of us, in some way, are moving in those spaces. She didn’t just do it first, she did it first professionally, so we could jump in.’

The Vivienne was the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019 and became a TV regular with appearances on Dancing On Ice, Emmerdale, Celebrity Mastermind and Celebrity Hunted. They also starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in a touring production of Wicked.

Danny, 32, completely agreed with Michael’s sentiments, and said that their hard work ‘opened doors’.

‘She ran so that we could walk. She was a born entertainer and it’s why so many of us looked up to her.

‘The Vivienne was the first person in my life who cared about it so much and wanted to take it to the next level.’

To create the perfect tribute, the gang rehearsed for hours (Picture: Instagram/thedannybeard)

Although the room was filled with incredible stars including GK Barry and Mutya Buena, the person they really wanted to see was The Vivienne.

Michael wishes that The Vivienne was still here to see the ‘outpouring of love’ they’ve received from so many people. ‘I would have loved for her to have been able to just see that for five minutes. Nobody feels like they have that,’ they said.

When the group were reunited, rather than be sombre, they spent their time together remembering the good times, and whenever possible, laughing. They were all resolute that this is exactly what The Vivienne would have wanted them to do.

The winners of Metro Pride Awards 2025:

Icon Award

Winner: The Vivienne

Brand of the Year

Winner: British Airways

Highly commended: Just Eat

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award

Winner: Create Fertility

Highly commended: MSB Solicitors

LGBTQ+ Network Group

Winner: ScottishPower – In-Fuse

Highly commendedL Spire Healthcare – LGBTQ+ Colleague Network

Most Inclusive Employer

Winner: London Stock Exchange

Highly commended: Moody’s

Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility

Winner: Nissan

Grassroots or Charity Organisation of the Year

Winner: Just Like Us

Highly commended: LGBT Foundation

Celebrity of the Year

Winner: Edward Einninful OBE

Marketing Campaign of the Year

Winner: Open Media

Highly commended: Millwall Romans – Millwall F.C.

Business of the Year

Winner: Wickes

Highly commended: Macquarie

Best Breakthrough Business

Winner: Williams & Hirst

Highly commended: Mildreds

Rising Star Award

Winner: GK Barry

Sports Hero of the Year

Winner: Cindy Ngamba

Business Ally

Winner: Lauryn Yuen, TikTok

Highly commended: Emma Carey, MSB Solicitors

Broadcaster of the Year

Winner: Robert Rinder MBE

LGBT+ Trailblazer

Winner: Suki Sandhu OBE and Simon Jones

LGBT+ Business Leader

Winner: Elliot Barton, Tatti Lashes

Highly commended: Anna Deignan, The Premier League

Music Hero of the Year

Winner: Will Young

Inspirational Ally

Winner: Sharleen Spiteri

Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Stephen Fry

Metro Global Recognition Award

Winner: Anastacia

‘Although we’re together because it’s a sad time we’re cracking jokes and having lots of laughs. That’s what we do best, and that’s what The Viv did best. It’s what she would have wanted,’ stated Danny.

‘Even though she was professional, she does take the p**s,’ Baga, 35, added in her usual no-nonsense terms.

Baga excludes joy as she recalls their gossipy rationed cigarette breaks on RuPaul’s Drag Race or the time they hunted for vapes in Australia only to find out they were illegal. She told us with a huge grin that one of their favourite subjects was soap storylines. Baga wishes she could still call her up to talk about the latest twisty episodes. Michael wanted to share their own memory, recalling building a wooden Titanic boat and spray painting it just for a fun sketch.

Each of them shared a special bond with The Vivienne (Picture: Chelsea Guglielmino/WireImage)

‘The thing with The Viv as well, she never changed. All the success, all the stardom, she was still down with the working class,’ they said. ‘She was rough as the roads, and liked being laughed at.’

‘I wouldn’t have grown as much without them. I’m a massive Drag Race fan, so I gagged that she even cared that I existed on this planet,’ Tia, 34, contributed to the love-fest.

‘Becoming friends with her gave me a lot of confidence and opportunities. She included me in her world and gave me so much advice, not just with my makeup, but with me as a person inside.

‘The Viv was such a good person. She would auction off her clothes, and give money to the local drag scene,’ Danny shared. The Vivienne worked particularly closely with Sahir, an LGBTQ+ charity based in Liverpool, donating her time and money to the cause.

Michael was part of the special performance (Picture: Karwai Tang) The routine was put together by Cheryl (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)

‘She was always putting us forward for jobs. The Vivienne is such a champion for everyone, never competitive and doesn’t gatekeep opportunities. As a cheerleader by nature, she wants everyone to succeed.’

Each of the five drag stars still often speak about The Vivienne in the present tense, and Cheryl believes the subconscious decision is for an important reason. ‘Her legacy will always live on. Her past will always be our present and future so they will always be,’ they explained.

‘She was such a big part of my life and drag so she always will be,’ Michael continued.

Tia Kofi with The Vivienne in 2024 (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) Danny Beard said ‘The Viv was such a good person’ (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)

Aside from remembering The Vivienne at the Metro Pride Awards, the group also mingled with people equally passionate about making the world a better place.

The event brought together the most influential and inspiring LGBTQ+ individuals and organisations to honour and celebrate the extraordinary talent, resilience and passion that defines the community. The group agreed that the event was very much needed.

‘In this day and age where you can see everything that’s going on around the world and how it feels like we’re going backwards, it’s so important to have events like this and to have a publication like Metro champion us,’summarised Michael.

‘We’re 100% in saying this community is going nowhere. We’re getting stronger. We’ll stand for that like The Vivienne did.’

Tasha Ghouri wore a beautiful silver dress (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)

Also in attendance at the Metro Pride Awards was Tasha Ghouri, who looked stunning in a glitzy silver dress. It marked her first red carpet since splitting from long-term partner Andrew Le Page.

Tulisa, Oti Mabuse, Ella Morgan and Ashley Roberts also headed out on a rainy Wednesday night to support the worthy cause.

‘I wanted to be here as I’m a big, big, big ally, and I really appreciate that people are being celebrated for who they are. We should be doing more of that to make people feel confident in who they are and who they love,’ shared Oti.

Ella added: ‘I’m a fan of Metro because obviously they always back me and big me up. I love that. The fact that a big publication is doing pride awards is an honour to us as a community because a lot of the time press can be negative when it comes trans, non-binary, gay, or anything like that.

‘I couldn’t miss tonight, hopefully, it is the first of many.’

Rylan was the perfect host (Picture: Lucy Young)

Rylan said: ‘We’ve celebrated the absolutely incredible achievements of the LGBTQ+ community.

‘It’s been a year of highs and lows, glitter and grit and, honestly, it’s like we’re living in the middle of a Drag Race lip-sync battle.

‘Some countries seem to be going forward, others well, let’s just say they’re still stuck in the bottom two. But regardless, this was a wonderful event about celebrating what we’ve achieved.’

GK Barry was proud to be given the accolade (Picture: Nick Edwards)

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star GK Barry, 25, won the rising star gong and gave an inspirational speech while collecting the award.

She spoke about feeling accepted by her parents when coming out, and how she’s been getting sweet messages from fans after sharing this story during the jungle

‘People were messaging me saying “you gave me the confidence to come out” or parents messaged me like “I knew how to deal with that same situation because of you”. It just felt really amazing, it feels amazing to be part of the community.’

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Broadcaster of the year went to TV personality Robert Rinder, who shared his intention to always use the platform he’s been given for good.

Veteran actor and TV presenter Sir Stephen Fry was given the lifetime achievement award, and pop star Anastacia won the Metro global recognition award. While former editor-in-chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful received the celebrity of the year award.

Among the other winners was singer Will Young, who was presented with the music hero of the year award, he spoke candidly about being advised not to speak about his sexuality twenty years ago.

‘I knew I wanted to be true to myself, and we’ve moved on so much in so many ways in other ways we haven’t,’ he shared. Will, 46, spoke about receiving death threats and hearing horrific things being said about him.

He added: ‘I always felt the support of you guys, the community, and that really kept me going. I’m deeply appreciative. It’s nice to get a chance to say thank you 23 years later.’

Speaking about the evening, executive editor of Metro, Richard Hartley-Parkinson, said: ‘The Metro Pride Awards provide an important platform to recognise those who are making a real difference in the LGBTQ+ community.

‘It was an inspiring night and we were thrilled to honour so many incredible individuals and organisations who continue to fight for equality.

‘Huge congratulations to all the winners and nominees.’

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