Gay village

29 year old Kris was born in Jamaica.  His parents wanted him to be a lawyer but he had something much more glamorous in mind. 

Celeste

Kris's first brush with the drag world was in Puerto Rico watching a can can show and one person had dropped out.  "I was asked to fill in.  I had my make up done and felt funny because the dance group had straight people and nobody had any idea I was gay.  I felt different, I knew I was gay but was having a  a hard time accepting it.  I was my first time in drag and I felt fabulous - really glamorous."

A diva is born

And so a diva was born. Kris became Celeste, and this girl wanted to work and entertain.  But being a black drag queen in Jamaica was a definite no-no. "It's literally a death sentence" says Celeste " you cannot be gay or feminine in Jamaica".

Celeste came to the UK in 1993 to follow her dream and has been in Birmingham for 3 years, performing in clubs across the city and perfecting her art. 

Fairy princess Celeste

Miaow bitch!

"The Drag world is quite bitchy.  You need to be good at what you do to get respect, so I practice.  I buy cheap make-up from the Bullring and experiment, but I spend a fortune on quality cosmetics for my shows."

This lady has expensive tastes.  Celeste will travel the world for the perfect gown and thinks nothing of spending £1000 on a wig.

"I make some of my clothes and I get influenced by things I see in places like New York.  I bought a Beyonce dress in New York but someone copied me and I was really upset."

Glamma Puss Celeste

I'm NOT RuPaul!

Celeste certainly has style, and at 6ft 6 in heels, this girl makes sure she gets noticed. Her style influences are wide-ranging, oh,  but just don't call her RuPaul...

"I love Tyra Banks.  I study her, how she moves, buy books on her, watch TV.  I get compared to RuPaul a lot which does annoy me, but I guess RuPaul paved the way."

"I love the attention, I like getting noticed.  I love being over the top in pink yellow and bright green wigs.  I don't do natural - people have to say ' wow, she's way out, she's so over the top'."

Celeste

Love me!

Celeste is out to get noticed, thriving on the reaction, attention and hollers she gets from the public;

"A lot of men come my way.  I turn down a lot of men, I can be a diva.  People can see me, look at me and appreciate me but I'd much rather get a boyfriend as Kris rather than Celeste.  Straight men too are often attracted to me, they are amazed by my legs and they want to touch them.  I let them because I enjoy the attention but that's as far as it goes."

Not a shrinking violet, Celeste will sashay around Birmingham city centre, so what does she think of our Brummie girls' style when she's out and about?

Celeste

"Some British women really know how to dress, and others are very, very VERY tacky you only need to walk down Broad St in Birmingham to see the extremes of style.  It's the same in drag.  You really have to call the fashion police sometimes."

"You've either got it, or you haven't" says Celeste with a laugh, sharpening her claws...

Celeste's Top Ten Drag Commandments

1 Cheap Make-up will give you a cheap look
2 Always wear your right size in high heels
3 Always smile 
4 Never put a wig in the washing machine 
5 Always try and be original, (have an ongoing trademark)
6 Never be a hypocrite (always be yourself)
7 If u can't afford, it-it's not worth it! 
8 A supple skin is most girls passport to life! 
9 Always have at least one Drag Friend (A Sister) 
10 Know that song word for word and cue for cue before attempting to lip-synch (that's an embarrassing disaster)

"These are my ten commandments follow them and you will never fail. Now go out there and be a good girl!"

Celeste can be seen performing at clubs all over the UK and at the Caribana Club at the Nightingale Club in Birmingham.