Ariana Grande leads tributes to ‘phenomenal’ RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vivienne
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Huge stars, including TV presenter RuPaul, have mourned The Vivienne following the entertainer’s death aged 32. It was announced this weekend that James Lee Williams, known professionally as The Vivienne, had died, with publicist Simon Jones confirming the shocking news via a statement.
![[David paul Ludford My heart is literally shattered, I feel so out of place I feel lost, I feel numb Fly high angel and keep shining ? 31m The Vivienne]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235157874-e13d.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Fans and famous friends of theirs have been left reeling from devastation, flooding social media with heartfelt messages in their honour. Drag icon RuPaul, whose full name is RuPaul Charles, took to Instagram this evening with a photo from the set of Drag Race.
![[David paul Ludford My heart is literally shattered, I feel so out of place I feel lost, I feel numb Fly high angel and keep shining ? 31m The Vivienne]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235157875-697d.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Their caption read: ‘With a broken heart, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne’. RuPaul, 64, hailed them as ‘an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being.’. Williams’ ex-husband, David Ludford, paid tribute as well, writing that his heart ‘literally sank’ when he received the terribly sad phone call.
![[LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 18: The Vivienne and RuPaul Charles at RuPaul's DragCon UK presented by World Of Wonder at Olympia London on January 18, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for World Of Wonder Productions)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235184038-26db.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Ludford, a wig hairstylist, said Williams ‘changed [his] life so much’ from the day they first met in August 2017 in Gran Canaria. They married in 2019. ‘We literally clicked straight away and we knew we (were) going to be together for along time,’ Ludford wrote.
![[The Vivienne and Colin Grafton 'Dancing On Ice' TV show]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235066992-a5ee.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘He made me feel love and shown me what it was really like to love someone. ‘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 with a joint statement that said they were ‘still very much friends’ and wished each other ‘the absolute best’.
