The Vivienne hid ketamine struggles to 'protect family' as they found out about drug addiction during Drag Race UK appearance

The famous drag queen, whose real name was James Lee Williams, died in January at the age of 32. It was later confirmed that the star had died as a result of a cardiac arrest caused by taking ketamine. A full inquest into Williams’s death is scheduled to begin on June 30.

Chanel Williams, sister of The Vivienne, has now revealed that her brother hid their struggles with drug addiction from the family until their appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race in order to “protect them”. Williams spoke out about their experience with ketamine abuse on the first series BBC Three competition show in 2019, with the family finding out at the same time as viewers.

Chanel explained that Williams relapsed after “a long period of sobriety”, but that the family were not aware of this until after the star had passed away. In an interview with Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire, Chanel opened up about her brother’s struggle with addiction and relapse, saying that the stigma around drugs and The Vivienne’s newly-found fame impacted the drag queen’s decision not to reach out for help.

She said: "He'd spoken openly on Drag Race about the battles he'd had with addiction, and he'd come through the other side of that. He was at the height of everything he was doing and I think because he'd said it in such a open platform, it's really difficult to come back and say you're struggling again."

Williams’s family have began campaigning to pressure the government to reclassify ketamine as a Class A drug in memory of the star. Chanel has said that she is concerned about the number of young people opting to take the drug, adding that its cheap price and accessibility makes it an attractive option for some.

She said: “It was so difficult to share the information around how he’d passed away, but we talked as a family about what we can do.

The Vivienne left a legacy as a trailblazing icon and this is, I fell, James’s legacy to help other people. And I know that he would want us to turn this into something more positive that can get the message out there, that we can make changes, that we can get people to listen.”

Chanel’s full interview with Newsnight airs at 10.30pm this evening on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.