Cherry Valentine Passes Away

George Ward, better known as Cherry Valentine, has passed away at 28 years old.

The beloved drag queen competed in the second season of Drag Race UK in 2021.

"It is with the most heart-wrenching and deepest sadness to inform you that our George – Cherry Valentine – has tragically passed away," Valentine's family said in a statement.

"As his family, we are still processing his death and our lives will never be the same. We understand how much he is loved and how many lives he has inspired and touched. All we ask is for your patience and your prayers in this time. We love you Georgie."

In reaction to the devastating news, queens from the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise have shared their condolences on social media.

Valentine's fellow season two sister A'whora says she can still feel her "long spiked fingernails digging into her hand."

"I’ve never met anyone in my life who was more kind, more genuine, more caring who you could tell had so much time to give not because they had to, but because they wanted to!" says A'whora, "from after parties at mine after every night out, sleeping over and waking up to your full face in my pillow and stencil brows stuck to your hand, it’s the small memories of endless tequila shots and pulling off each others wigs that I won’t ever forget!"

In addition to drag, Valentine was a qualified mental health nurse.

She worked the frontline as a vaccination administrator during the COVID pandemic.

**If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress please call LifeLine at 13 11 14.**

---

Rumour Has It We May Be Getting A Drag Version Of Big Brother On Netflix

Our beloved queen of drag, RuPaul, is allegedly partnering up with Netflix for a new TV series.

According to the RuPaul's Drag Race Family fan page, sources say a Drag Race version of Big Brother is set to be released on the popular streaming platform.

The series is said to be Netflix's first live show where fans can "watch the contestants 24/7, seven days a week with multi camera functionality."

It's also rumoured to be called RUPAUL'S BIG MOTHER and shall feature contestants from the Drag Race franchise.

"According to sources in the know a four week long drag version of the hit reality show BIG BROTHER is allegedly coming to the streaming channel fronted by none other than Rupaul herself," as stated on the fan page, "RUPAUL'S BIG MOTHER could see ten franchise favourite queens holed up together in a luxury house with 70 Cameras, 120 microphones and a whole host of dragtacular challenges."

Ten queens from RuPaul's Drag Race have already been linked to show including "Adore Delano, Ginger Minj, Kennedy Davenport, Alyssa Edwards, Katya, Manila Luzon, Thorgy Thor, Tammie Brown, Willam Belli and Heidi N Closet."

It's rumoured the cast will be competing for $150,000 and have to partake in weekly challenges including "makeovers, assault courses, endurance tests and lip syncing."

None of the queens have yet to comment on the rumoured series.

And Netflix have yet to release any statements relating to the show.

If all the rumours are true, we most certainly will be tuning in to this show!

I guess RuPaul was serious when she said she wanted to take over the world with drag - and honestly no complaints here!

---

Drag Race Winner Willow Pill Is Breaking Boundaries As A Trans Disabled Queen

When Willow Pill walked into the WerkRoom in her wedged flip-flops and 'ANGLE' top, she immediately won the hearts of all the judges, all the other contestants and all Drag Race viewers.

From day one she brought us the CHARISMA, UNIQUENESS, NERVE and TALENT - but her appearance on the show also broke boundaries.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Willow spoke about the significance of representing marginalised communities as winner of Season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race.

"What's important to me is that I'm representing people who are disabled and chronically ill. That's not something we see on television — especially not on reality television, because people who are ill and disabled are amazing, fun, nasty, and catty, and they're everything anyone else can be, times 25." - Willow Pill

The 27 year old has been very open about her battle with Cystinosis, a rare genetic disorder that cause cystines to accumulate in the body's tissue and organs.

Willow spoke to People Magazine about the many side effects of her illness including muscle deterioration, blurred vision and constant exhaustion.

"I take a lot of medications - a little over 20 pills a day," she says, "and while they're supposed to make you feel better, taking that many pills every day growing up, they make you feel sick. It's for the greater good, so that your body functions long term, but you feel ill through your daily life. It's not fun, really."

Since appearing on the award winning reality series, Willow has been praised for not only her talents but also for her transparency about living with a disability.

"I wanted to go into the show being really honest about what was happening in my life because I hate that sometimes we make a sugar-coated experience or an inspirational story out of sick people's lives when often, there's just pain there that needs to be felt and heard," she says, "one of the most gratifying parts of the experience of Drag Race has been hearing from people who tell me how important my time on the show has meant to them - that's kind of priceless."

As a trans femme queen, Willow says the process of transitioning and undergoing hormone therapy is much more difficult as someone living with a chronic illness.

"Being in and out of the hospital, in and out of surgery — being poked, being prodded and having your body made into a medical object — that causes pain and trauma that ends up developing oftentimes into PTSD. For me, it's been a lot of anxiety, a lot of nightmares. It's a very, very real and difficult thing to go through, and I'm honestly still in the process of kind of working through a lot of trauma that's happened to my body through medicalisation. So because my body's already been so medicalised, I don't love the idea of furthering that medicalisation of my body. It's something I'm still really deciding. Estrogen, particularly, can cause a lot of increase of side effects of the medications I'm currently on and I'm already on a lot, so if I do choose to begin Estrogen, that's something I'll have to take very, very slowly."

So what's next for the Drag Race Superstar?!?

Our reigning queen told Entertainment Weekly that she plans on focusing her time on acting, "absurd sketches and music," and making her art more "disgusting" and "dirty."

"For this year right now, I want to travel all over the world and meet people that have made me have the career that I have now," she says.

We cannot wait to see what's next for Willow Pill.

---