Drag Race icon Tayce opens up about why she decided to compete on Strictly
Tayce will be competing in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special. (BBC)
It’s time to swap the mistletoe for a glitterball as the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is coming on Christmas Day, and drag artist, model and presenter Tayce will be one of the contestants this year.
The ballroom is set to be transformed into a magical winter wonderland as several celebrities take to the dance floor. Dancing with Kai Widdrington, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist Tayce will be making herstory as the first drag queen on the show.
Following her announcement on the show, Tayce, who is gay and uses she/her pronouns while in drag, shared: “I cannot wait to sleigh on the Strictly ballroom floor. My partner and I are going to dance for our lives!
“In all seriousness, it’s an incredible honour to be the first Drag artist to be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing.
“I hope I do all of my Drag Race and Welsh fans proud! Sign me up for all the glitz, glam and discoballs.”
In a recent BBC interview, Tayce went into more detail about why she decided to sign up for the festive special.
She explained: “It’s such an honour to be part of this amazing and highly popular show, pushing the envelope and breaking boundaries as the first drag queen to appear on it. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, though there’s also been some negativity from trolls, but that’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Tayce will compete alongside comedian Josh Widdicombe (dancing with Karen Hauer), podcaster Vogue Williams (dancing with Gorka Márquez), Gladiator and Olympian Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (dancing with Nancy Xu), actress Tamzin Outhwaite (dancing with Nikita Kuzmin) and racing driver and TV presenter Billy Monger (dancing with Nadiya Bychkova).
The six couples will be dancing for the usual judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge Shirley Ballas – as well as the voting studio audience.
But what is Tayce’s life like of the stage? Here are some fascinating facts about the Drag Race icon.
Where is Tayce from?
Tayce is from Newport, Wales but she moved to London in her late teens.
After working a series of jobs, Tayce became a full-time, professional drag queen in 2017.
Does Tayce have a boyfriend/partner?
In 2022, Tayce shared that she’d “never been in a serious relationship”.
Tayce added: “It is expected that you should have been through so many relationships by now and if you haven’t then there must be something wrong with you and, actually, it’s that sometimes there is something wrong with these other people.
“I am very boisterous and very loud and you’ll know I’m in the room – but that’s not what I am looking for in a partner,” she said.
However, fans believe Tayce briefly had a fling with fellow RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant A’Whora.
Are A’whora and Tayce still friends?
A’Whora and Tayce gained prominence as RuPaul’s Drag Race UK competitors and they’re known for being close friends and roommates during lockdown.
Their playful dynamic won over fans on social media and their pairing is considered one of the most popular on the show.
Speaking to PinkNews in 2021, Tayce said the pair’s will-they won’t-they fling “was all fun.”
“Miss A’Whora loves to run with this story,” she added. “We got together once before we even knew each other, when we met in a club one time, as people do.
“They made it bigger than it was. I was like, ‘Let me try to deflect it’; she was very much like, ‘Oh, this is camp, let’s go with it!’ I’m down to play up with it. But we’re just very, very, very, very, very good friends. She’s an annoying sister to me.”
Who are Tayce’s parents?
Tayce has made a name for herself but you may also recognise her famous father.
Tayc’s father, Roger Radix, was a bass guitarist for the English pop duo Wham!, comprised of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will air on BBC One and iPlayer at 3:55pm on 25 December.
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