00:00Hello, I'm with Lewis Fuller, who is just 16 years old, believed to be Blackpool's youngest
00:07drag star, and he goes by the name of Kendall Kirst. Lewis, how is it? How did you get into
00:13drag? How did you get there in the first place?
00:17So I first discovered RuPaul's Drag Race in 2020 when I was scrolling through TikTok and
00:24that really intrigued me so I actually started watching it and it inspired me and from that
00:31moment I knew that drag is what I wanted to do in life.
00:37And is that where it all began for you? Yeah, when I first actually started, it was
00:44just one late night in my bedroom and I was just online shopping and I decided to order
00:50a wig and a costume and then it came and I remember the wig was bright green, quite
00:56questionable but it was my start and that's where it all began.
01:01Right, do you have any particular inspirations or people who have inspired you?
01:05RuPaul, obviously, is a massive inspiration. She's an inspiration to every drag queen,
01:10but for me also it's Crystal Versace who was the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season
01:163 because she is the youngest person to ever win Drag Race and she's an inspiration to
01:20young queens everywhere. And then you've got your classics like John Travolta, Mrs Doubtfire,
01:26all those fabulous performers. Right, and what was it like for you growing
01:30up as a drag queen? Some people may think that going to school
01:35and doing drag is quite a challenge but I've been quite lucky in the sense where I haven't
01:40really had any backlash at school from anybody and everybody's been supportive.
01:45Obviously you get the odd comment from people but it's not hard to cope with and it's never
01:50been anything really serious. That's brilliant and what school did you
01:53go to? Highfield Leadership Academy.
01:55Right, it's good to hear you've had no problems there and you're actually going to the prom
02:00dressed in drag, is that the case? Yeah, I am and that has been a plan since
02:05I started drag. Something I've always wanted to do, keeps me in people's memories, they
02:11won't forget who I am and without the school's support I wouldn't be able to do that so I'm
02:17grateful. Now you also perform, you do dancing, how
02:21do you feel about your performances so far? I absolutely have loved my performances so
02:25far. I've just done Blackpool Pride, it was incredible, the audience was amazing, the
02:29people backstage were absolutely incredible. I also produced my own show which means I
02:36did everything from ticket sales to booking the venue to DJs and as a 16 year old you
02:42might think that is very difficult but I had the support of my mum and everything went
02:47perfectly, it was amazing. That's brilliant and how does it feel to
02:51have a place like Blackpool which embraces the Pride movement?
02:55Blackpool is incredible, it's known for its drag scene and I'm honoured to be able to
03:00be a part of that and bring a new modern twist on drag to Blackpool.
03:06And in terms of after school, any plans for that?
03:10Just really perfect my art, try and perform as much as I can, really get myself out there
03:15and I'm going to college to study school teaching so because the teachers at school have had
03:23such an impact on me with their support, I want to be able to have that impact on other
03:28people too, they've really inspired me as well.
03:32That's brilliant, thanks Lewis, well done.
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