A year after his death, the legendary Paul O'Grady is still inspiring the art of drag as Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton channels him in his new role.
The British comedian and icon died in March 2023 at age 67 and rose to fame as a drag artist and activist in the 1990s.
Kevin extensively researched O'Grady's alter ego, Lily Savage, in preparation for her performance as former Loco artist Chanelle in Everybody's Talking About Jamie.
The 41-year-old dancer is starring in the touring company of the beloved musical as Jamie's titular mentor, Hugo Battersby, aka Loco.
Composed by The Feeling's Dan Gillespie-Sells, the real-life story follows student Jamie as he overcomes barriers to pursue his dream of becoming a drag queen.
Stacey Dooley revealed how hard her husband worked for the role when she went to see it at Liverpool's Empire Theatre.
Praising him, the 37-year-old presenter wrote: 'Went to see Kev last night. @jamiemusical Kev, you are very smart. It rocked. He embodied the role perfectly.
'It looks like Lily Savage's non-stop research and endless drag literature has paid off. 💅🏼,” she added before saying “well done.”
Stacey jokingly concluded that she also deserved congratulations for bringing back pedal pusher pants.
Kevin made his Broadway debut as a lead dancer in Burn the Floor in 2009 and took to the West End stage for the first time the following year for a production of Dirty Dancing.
In 2021, he joined Jonathan Church's critically acclaimed production Singin' in the Rain as Cosmo Brown.
In the same year, a film version of Everybody's Talking About Jamie was aired, with the esteemed Richard E Grant playing Loco.
When he was cast, Richard was concerned about the debate surrounding a non-LGBTQ+ actor taking on queer roles.
'I said, 'How can you really justify casting a drag queen or non-genuine gay actor to play this role?' News week at the time.
He explained: '[Director Jonathan Butterell] said the entire creative team is gay and “we believe you have the right qualities or whatever to play Hugo/Loco Chanelle.”
'I said, 'Well, I've never danced and sung, or done drag, or seen drag in a musical, much less in a movie.' It fills me with terror and I thought that was a good thing.'
Kevin teased his drag transformation on Instagram with the quote, “This is all a process of becoming more.”
Stacey shared a video of him introducing himself, beaming with pride as she said she loves him “so much” and called him a “smart, intelligent star”.
The professional dancer and documentary filmmaker met while competing in Strictly together in 2018, defeating runners-up Joe Sugg, Faye Tozer and Ashley Roberts to take home the glitterball trophy.
The couple welcomed their first daughter, Minnie, in January and Stacey recently announced that she will be making her West End debut soon.
Next month, the former Glow Up presenter will star as Jenny in supernatural thriller 2:22 A Ghost Story alongside Inbetweener legend James Buckley.
Celebrating her casting, Kevin wrote: 'Couldn't be more excited for my girl's West End debut! So incredibly proud. She's going to be amazing on @222aghoststory.
'A show that I love!!! Love you @sjdooley Let's all go see her!
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