Dixie Delight is one third of the Boyz Award-winning drag supergroup, The Vixens and Two Box Productions, she loves trash TV and would love to travel back in time to ancient Egypt.
Where are you from originally?
I originally hail from Brighton, the gay capital. I love Brighton, and always regret not being able to explore the Brighton LGBTQIA+ scene more, before I moved to London as a fresh faced 18 year old.
Where do you live now?
I’m now a Clapham gay and live with boyfriend and fellow Vixen; Tia Kofi at what we like to call TwoBox Towers.
What do you love about London?
I love the feeling of being connected to people even in this huge city, you can run into anyone! There’s a romance about London that I love and when I moved here I was definitely living my Bridget Jones fantasy… only I wear bigger knickers.
What was the first gay venue you visited?
The first gay venue I ever visited was Revenge in Brighton in… 2010? I went with a lesbian friend and was quite excited and nervous. It was overwhelming and I felt very out of place. After that I didn’t go to another gay venue for about 5 years, which was the Two Brewers. I found comfort in my early times at The Brewers in embracing my queerness and starting drag. The rest is history.
How would you describe Dixie Delight?
Ditzy. Quirky. Curvaceous. She is for sure a big, goofy, beating heart. Sometimes funny by accident, but always giving you a pop star fantasy.
What did it mean to you to win the Boyz Award for Best Cabaret Act?
I never thought we’d win, not until one of us had been on Drag Race anyway… Anyone who saw me when it was announced will attest I was gobsmacked! For me personally it felt like a recognition of how far we’ve come and how many fantastic people enjoy what we do. I feel like it’s a testament to how much fun we have on stage with each other, because I feel like people respond to that. We’re sisters.
What was the last theatre show you went to see?
I went with Woe to see her boyfriend in, All In A Row, at the Southwark Playhouse. It’s about a family struggling to raise their severely autistic son. It has been controversial, but I thought it was very powerful and thought provoking.
Biggest guilty pleasure?
My biggest guilty pleasure is honestly trash TV shows, currently Riverdale on Netflix. Also terrible cheesy American films… Mmm, cheese…
Biggest extravagance?
I’m generally quite thrifty when it comes to spending… So I think my biggest extravagances are probably post-Halfway-Saturday takeaway feasts. Tia and I eat like Kings. Or should that be Queens?
Best gift you’ve ever received?
The best gift I’ve ever received is the gift of life. Thanks Mum and Dad. And also my boyfriend, without whom I would not have anything I have now.
Career highlight?
I think my career highlight so far is just the entire journey. (And of course being named Boyz magazine’s Best Cabaret Act 2019!) There have been so many highlights but who can pick one? Especially when you can only hope there’s bigger and brighter things on the horizon…
Best party you’ve ever been to?
The best parties I’ve ever been to are probably at Halfway to Heaven every Saturday night at 10.30pm. There’s this cool girl band that perform called The Vixens, apparently they just won an award?
Best advice you’ve been given?
Probably from Dave Cross, when he once told me that my Swedish accent was trans-European. R.I.P. Swedish Dixie.
Who is your LGBT Hero?
I’m gonna go curveball and say Joan of Arc. She was an anti-establishment, anti-colonialist, cross-dressing, feminist in her own time. Surely that’s iconic enough? I think she’s a good example of standing up and fighting for what you believe in in the face of societal norms. Was she LGBTQIA+? I don’t know for sure, but she was still a badass and I appreciate that.
Who on social media entertains you?
I always enjoy the posts by Son of A Tutu, mainly because there’s always usually a good comments section to read. Or to jump in and have a good old debate. I’m also very into YouTube at the moment, and always have time for the amusing adventures of Jenna Marbles. Search ‘Bounce That D’ to see some of her finest work.
Where would you like to visit before you die?
I love to travel and I’ve always been drawn to history. It has always been a dream of mine to travel around the great cities of the ancient world. There’s something so evocative and human about these cultures that can really teach us how to navigate some of the issues of our own time. If anything I wish I could travel IN time! Has anyone seen a Tardis anywhere?
If you could go back in time to any year, where would you go?
If I could go back in time honestly I’d like to travel back to the ancient libraries of Alexandria in Egypt, Constantinople and Babylon which were all destroyed. There’s so much of our own human story that is lost to time. It’s geeky as hell, but I don’t care.
What is the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?
I wish that I could tell my younger self that embracing your queerness will help you see the world in rainbow technicolour! Heteronormativity is a means to confine your fabulousness.
See Dixie with The Vixens on Saturday (16 Mar) and Monday in a solo show at Halfway II Heaven, 7 Duncannon Street, WC2.
Recommended for you
