This is happening! Metro catches up with the transgender drag icon and YouTuber, 29, on her look, her show and why she probably won’t do RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Loving the ‘purple face, sunglasses and curlers in the hair’ look!
I’m just having a face mask and pamper day today. We’re in the middle of doing mortgage things and trying to be grown up, me and Phil – Philly Willy. We hope to be married one day.
Tell us about The Juno Show
Imagine Rocky Horror meets The Muppets. It’s going to be full of song and attempted dance and stand-up comedy and lots of strange things. You may see me dressed as a lobster, you may see me throwing my child down a flight of stairs. This is Judith Louise [holds up a very battered-looking doll] and she’s going to be joining me on tour. We do duets together.
Is it just you or a full cast?
It’s a one-woman show but I have two assistants/dancers, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and they’ll be popping in and out of the show throughout, causing chaos. I expect people to come out of the theatre thinking, ‘What the F did I just see?’
Talk us through the persona you portray with your drag
I’m an alien drag queen. Before drag I did sculptures for a living, then got to the point where I just wanted to perform, so I started dressing myself up as these alien women I was drawing and it just evolved from there. I don’t know why I paint myself blue. It just makes me feel gorgeous and alive.
Is Juno you or a character?
My real name is Juno and my drag name is Juno. The difference is that when I’m in drag and on stage, I’m a lot more energetic. My latest ‘out of drag’ look is very Pamela Anderson – sunkissed beach babe, California queen.
And you are a trans woman…
Underneath all this I’m just a transgender woman and have been since I was 13. A lot of transgender women will do drag first and then they realise they’re a trans woman, but for me it was the opposite way round. It was only when I actually didn’t care what people thought anymore that I started doing drag, around the age of 26.
How was transitioning as a 13-year-old?
When I started puberty I realised something was very wrong… the things happening to my body were very uncomfortable. It took years to be able to get any medical help. I didn’t get hormone blockers until I was 17. Many years of counselling, therapy and people trying to work out if you do have gender dysphoria or not. Eventually, it didn’t matter to me what anyone was going to say – whether I was trans or not, whether I could do this or do that – I was going to do it anyway. It was either that or I wasn’t going to survive.
How did your family react?
My parents always knew, so when I came out as trans my mum found it so easy to just call me ‘she’. Before the age of 13 I was very quiet. As soon as I transitioned, I just went wild and was very outgoing and confident.
You’ve never done RuPaul’s Drag Race. Don’t you need to?
For me there are so many things going on that to put myself in a competition format on television scares me a little. I don’t know how I’d do on the show because – not to toot my own horn – I’m already quite well-known and I feel that might be a bit of the storyline, they would try to make me feel like I was a bit too big for my boots.
How do drag queens and trans women get on?
As a transgendered woman doing drag, I’ve never had any prejudice or drama around it. In the past there was a thing that if you’re a transgender woman then you’re a woman and you can’t do drag because drag is for men, but it’s all a load of s***e. You can do whatever you want.
The Juno Show tour starts June 8. Tickets from aegpresents.co.uk
MORE : Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary defend drag queens performing at ‘baby raves’ after protests
MORE : Drag queen The Vivienne emotional after performing without ‘armour’ for first time in stripped-back Dancing On Ice routine
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Entertainment News Click Here
