By Editor Richard Marsden
A full inquest is to conclude today into the tragic death of the first RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner, The Vivienne.
The 32-year-old star, who had spoken openly of their battle with drug addiction was found dead in the bathroom of their home.
The hearing is being held in Warrington, Cheshire, overseen by senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish.
A post mortem examination found the cause of death was ‘unnatural’, but no further information has yet been officially released about how the TV personality died. In March, their family revealed they suffered a heart attack having relapsed into taking ketamine.
When the inquest was opened in February, Cheshire Coroner’s Court heard the body of the star, real name James Lee Williams, was identified to police by their father.
Coroner’s officer Amanda Edgar told the two-minute hearing, also held in Warrington, that Williams was found dead at their home address in Chorlton-by-Backford on January 5 this year.
‘Mr Williams was found dead in the bathroom of his home address,’ she said.
Police attended and confirmed there were ‘no suspicious circumstances’, the area coroner was told.
A post mortem had identified ‘an unnatural cause of death’, Ms Edgar added.
Williams’ body was identified to a police officer by their father, Lee Williams, she said.
Adjourning the brief hearing, Area coroner Victoria Davies said there were no suspicious circumstances.
The Vivienne was catapulted to international fame after winning the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019.
News of the star’s sudden and unexpected death sparked an outpouring of grief, with hundreds of family, friends and fans gathering in their adopted home city Liverpool to release green balloons into the air to The Vivienne’s favourite songs from Wicked.
Famous faces who joined family for the TV star’s funeral in Denbighshire, North Wales, included Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Kim Woodburn, Jade Thirlwall, Aston Merrygold and Claire Sweeney.
Born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, Williams grew up watching Lily Savage on TV, citing that as their first exposure to drag.
Describing Wales as a ‘big-fish-in-a-small-pond situation’, the star moved to Liverpool aged 16 to pursue a career as a makeup artist, first working on the beauty counter in Debenhams.
It was there that they earned their nickname The Vivienne for dressing entirely in Vivienne Westwood, developing their budding passion for drag while going out with friends in the evenings.
Williams shot to wider fame after winning the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
They competed in the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2022 and finished third on Dancing On Ice in 2023.
During their career, The Vivienne also competed on an all-winners season of the RuPaul franchise in the US in 2022, the only UK contestant for that series.
They also starred in BBC Three show The Vivienne Takes On Hollywood in 2020, and appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted For Stand Up To Cancer in 2022.
However Williams also struggled with drug addiction, previously saying: ‘It was party drugs – but I couldn’t leave the drugs at the party.’
After acknowledging they needed to seek help, Williams underwent treatment at The Armistead Centre in Liverpool.
The Vivienne was due to be back on tour around the UK earlier this year performing in The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang musical, in the role of the Childcatcher.
News of Williams’ death was announced by their publicist Simon Jones, who described the star as an ‘incredibly loved’ and ‘amazing person’.
Tributes quickly poured in from co-stars, friends and loved ones.
EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘What devastating news. Sleep easy beautiful soul. Thankyou for being you.’
Paying tribute on Instagram, Oti Mabuse said: ‘Some news hits you harder than others and stops you in your tracks. I absolutely loved The Viv. A beautiful human being, funny, kind, a trailblazer, creative and so warm.’
RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage paid tribute to Williams, writing that their death was ‘heartbreaking’.
The Vivienne’s ‘devastated sister Chanel Williams revealed she and her family had no idea the Drag Race star was once again ‘struggling’ with addiction ahead of their tragic death.
The Vivienne died after apparently relapsing into taking drugs, following years of sobriety and being open about their battle with substance abuse.
In March, Chanel appeared on Lorraine in her first TV interview since her brother’s death and said she believed ‘breaking down the stigma’ of addiction could have helped save her sibling.
She told host Lorraine Kelly: ‘He’s gone through long periods of sobriety so for us as a family, we didn’t know that struggle that was clearly going on towards the end of his life’.
‘He was maintaining, he was on tour, doing so well. He was reading scripts for the future. So I think that stigma we need to break down so people feel about to talk.’
Before adding: ‘It’s hard if you’ve battled and then gone through that period of sobriety, it’s even harder to come back and say: ‘I’m struggling again”.
Chanel went on to say that the family saw it as The Vivienne’s ‘legacy’ to raise awareness around the dangers of Ketamine and get it reclassified to class A and are taking their fight to the Houses of Parliament.
She said: ‘He would want this. He struggled and he was open about that, I know that he would want this fight. This is beyond the most devastating time. For me to see my parents struggle as they are, we’ve just got to channel that into hoping that other families don’t feel like this’.
Reflecting on other people who have sadly lost their lives due to Ketamine usage, Lorraine said: ‘The first time I really heard about this and how dangerous it was, was Matthew Perry. Was he not given it to help with depression I believe?’
Cheryl Williams, manager of a drug rehabilitation centre, joined the conversation on the TV show to issue a stark warning, saying: ‘This is the thing we need to make clear, in a medically monitored situation, the drug is pure.
‘When you’re buying it off the street through the drug dealers, you have no idea what it’s being cut with and children are also then taking it with other substances.’
The Vivienne once said ketamine was their ‘breakfast, lunch and dinner’ at the height of addiction.
They 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.’
Revealing details of The Vivienne cause of death, Mr Jones said on Instagram that he and the star’s family feel it is ‘important to say how James tragically died’.
Mr Jones said: ‘We hope that by us releasing this information, we can raise awareness about the dangers of ongoing ketamine usage and what it can do to your body.
‘Ketamine usage is on the rise, particularly amongst young people, and I don’t think the full dangers of the drug are being discussed.’
He added they hope to work with mental health and addiction service Adferiad to ‘raise vital awareness and give information on how to get help if you are struggling with ketamine usage’.
In April, Dancing on Ice pro Colin Grafton has admitted he almost quit ITV show’s last ever series earlier this year following The Vivienne’s death.
Colin, 33, and The Vivienne made history on the show back in 2023 as the entertainer became the first drag queen to compete and together reached the final, before being pipped to the post by eventual winner Olympian Nile Wilson.
But Colin said the passing of his ‘beautiful friend’ left him unsure if he could return to the rink, despite already having spent months training with new partner and The Traitors star Mollie Pearce, 23 – the show was later ‘rested’ by bosses following plummeting ratings.
He said: ‘It was really tricky for me to get my head in the right place to do the series, I actually had a lot of thought of if I was going to do it or not. My partner Mollie was just so fantastic and was there for me along with the other pros and everybody really.’
‘It was very challenging, but at the same time… Mollie and I had put in so much work and I know that’s what Viv would have wanted me to do. Go out there and show everybody our hard work and that’s how we did it.’
The Government is seeking expert advice after illegal use of ketamine surged to record levels.
In the year ending March 2023, an estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 had reported use of the substance, which is controlled as class B, according to the Home Office.