The producers of RuPaul’s Drag Race are set to honor the life and legacy of the late drag queen The Vivienne with a brand-new documentary titled Dear Viv.
“We want to celebrate The Vivienne’s extraordinary life and work so everyone can experience her incredible talent, sass and enormous heart,” said Drag Race executive producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey in a statement released on Wednesday (March 5).
The Vivienne, whose birth name was James Lee Williams, was found dead at the age of 32 in their home in Chester, England, on January 5. Cheshire Police later stated that an initial investigation found “no suspicious circumstances,” though a formal inquest is scheduled for June. The drag artist used they/them pronouns.
Barbato and Bailey’s production company, World of Wonder, is producing Dear Viv in collaboration with The Vivienne’s family.
The documentary will explore their rise within the U.K. drag scene, beginning with their selection as the first-ever U.K. Drag Ambassador for RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2015 and culminating in their victory on the debut season of Drag Race U.K. in 2019.
“Although her stay here on Earth was far too brief, it is with tremendous admiration and affection that we share her legacy in Dear Viv,” Barbato and Bailey said in their statement.
When news of The Vivienne’s passing first broke in January, Drag Race host RuPaul remembered the U.K. winner as “an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being.”
“With a broken heart, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne,” RuPaul wrote in an Instagram post on January 6.
Drag Race judge Michelle Visage expressed her grief over The Vivienne’s passing, calling it “heartbreaking” in her own statement. She shared via Instagram:
“I don’t know how to say how I feel. My darling @thevivienne_ we go back to when I started coming over here to the UK. You were always there, always laughing, always giving, always on point. Your laughter, your wit, your talent, your drag. I loved all of it but I loved your friendship most of all. You were a beacon to so many.”
“You will always be the Velma to my Louise, and I’ll always talk to you before I go onstage for every single show I do because let’s face it, you were a bloody powerhouse when you hit that stage,” added Drag Race U.K. season 1 queen Baga Chipz.
“Always there for me when I needed you. You taught me the true meaning of sisterhood but more importantly you taught me how to do a cut crease.”
The Vivienne was one of the most successful queens to emerge from Drag Race U.K., using their platform to land a starring role as the Wicked Witch of the West in a West End production of The Wizard of Oz.
In 2022, they were selected to represent the U.K. in the all-winners season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, where they finished in joint seventh place alongside Jaida Essence Hall.
Beyond their career in drag, The Vivienne married wig designer David Ludford in December 2019 at the London nightclub Heaven. The couple separated in April 2023 but remained close friends for the rest of The Vivienne’s life.
Following The Vivienne’s passing, Ludford shared a heartfelt message on social media:
“We literally went through and did so much together it was like a whirlwind and I wouldn’t have changed the time we spent together for anything In The world!!! I feel like a tit feeling this upset and hurt because we have been fully divorced for just over a year now but we was together 6 year and we loved each other so much and you can’t take away.”
