window.dotcom = window.dotcom || { cmd: [] }; window.dotcom.ads = window.dotcom.ads || { resolves: {enabled: [], getAdTag: []}, enabled: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.push(r)), getAdTag: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.push(r)) }; setTimeout(() => { if(window.dotcom.ads.resolves){ window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.forEach(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.forEach(r => r("")); window.dotcom.ads.enabled = () => new Promise(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.getAdTag = () => new Promise(r => r("")); console.error("NGAS load timeout"); } }, 5000)

The Vivienne hid ketamine struggle to protect family, sister says

Josh Parry
LGBT & identity reporter
Victoria Derbyshire
BBC Newsnight
Getty Images Drag Queen The Vivienne singing in a purple jumpsuit on stage at the opening of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in LiverpoolGetty Images
James's career went from Drag Race star and into the mainstream, appearing in the West End and on various TV programmes.

The sister of James Lee Williams, better known as The Vivienne, says her family only learned of the drag performer's battle with ketamine addiction after watching Drag Race UK.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Chanel Williams, 35, says James had kept the struggle - including being hospitalised because of the drug - a secret from the family "to protect them".

The 32-year-old died in January, with the family later announcing the cause of death as a cardiac arrest caused by taking ketamine.

Chanel says her brother had "a really long period of sobriety" before relapsing, something she says the family only discovered after James's death.

"A big thing for me now is, had I asked the questions or just looked for the signs, would the outcome be different":[]}