David Ludford pays emotional tribute, while UK show’s host RuPaul says the performer was ‘a lovely human being’. The ex-husband of the drag artist known as The Vivienne has said “my heart is shattered” after the death of the RuPaul’s Drag Race star, as the hit TV show’s host paid tribute to “a lovely human being”.
![[The Vivienne and RuPaul ]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c7a09a2c1111d2e95882003cfef9af2b889588d3/0_83_5690_3414/master/5690.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
James Lee Williams, who won the 2019 first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK as The Vivienne, died at the weekend aged 32. In an emotional tribute on Instagram, David Ludford wrote: “My heart literally sank when I got the call! My heart is shattered!”.
Ludford, a wig hairstylist, said Williams “changed my life so much”, adding they “loved each other so much”. “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!” The couple announced their separation in April 2023.
RuPaul Charles, the host of RuPaul’s Drag Race, said: “With a broken heart, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne – an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being.”. Williams’s professional skating partner on ITV’s Dancing on Ice, the American skater Colin Grafton, said the performer “brought light into every room they entered and gave so many people hope where there was none”. The pair made history when Williams became the first drag act to reach the show’s finale, being placed third in the skating competition’s 2023 series.
