RuPaul's Drag Race star hoping to make NI proud

Belfast-born drag queen Charra Tea is celebrating her sixth year of doing drag and living her dream as part of the latest cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

Charra, performed by 23-year-old James Martin, is known to her thousands of Instagram followers as the ‘Primary Colour Princess’.

“I am not a sporty person by any means, but I feel like I have done about 17 marathons,” said Charra.

“It is so intense, but it is absolutely incredible. It is definitely like the Olympics of drag.

“I am here to represent for the tacky and the colourful out there, and no one else is going to want to wear primary colours, so it makes me stand out,” she said.

“I know that I will always be the brightest queen in every single photo that I am in.”

Charra Tea is the third Northern Ireland contestant to land a spot in the show, and she has some big shoes to fill.

The first contestant from Northern Ireland, Blu Hydrangea, placed fifth in the first UK series of the show in 2019.

She went on to win the first season of the spin-off series RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World.

In 2022, Belfast-born Jonbers Blonde was a finalist in series four of the original UK show.

“I felt very proud being the third queen chosen from such a talented pool of drag artists in Northern Ireland,” said Charra.

“Blu and Jonbers both did incredible, so there is always that added pressure, but it is exciting as well!”

It may have been her third time auditioning, but Charra said she is happy the call came when it did.

“Any other time would have been far too early."

James Martin was first drawn to drag when taking part in a production of Hairspray at Grosvenor Grammar School.

The shy pupil was strong-armed into taking up the role of Mr Pinky but found confidence in the pink fluorescent suit and pink feather boa he was handed.

It was not until a few years later that he decided to try out drag for himself.

“I used to volunteer in a charity shop in Belfast on Botanic Avenue, and I loved seeing all these fabulous clothes, dresses, and costumes that come in,” explained Charra.

“I was always so jealous that I wasn’t able to wear them, and then one day I thought, you know what, I’m going to start drag and I’m going to buy these dresses so I can wear them.”

James loved the name Charity but wanted something a little different, and so Charra Tea was born.

Each episode sees drag queens compete in a variety of challenges to become the UK’s Next Drag Superstar.

Contestants are expected to excel in acting, design, lip syncing, and much more to reach the final weeks as they face fierce criticism from RuPaul, Michelle Visage and a panel of celebrity guests.

One of the recurring challenges is Snatch Game, a pun on the American panel game show Match Game, which sees contestants try to match fill-in-the-blank answers given by celebrity panellists.

Expectations are high for the drag queens, who are expected to make RuPaul laugh with their celebrity impressions.

“I was always really nervous for snatch game," Charra said.

"It’s so iconic. But I was also very excited for a design, sewing, and creating challenge because that’s what I love to do.”

Charra left Belfast at 19 to go to university in Leeds, where her drag career continued to flourish, but she said she is still a Belfast Queen at heart.

“I was born in Belfast; my drag was born here," she said.

"I will always be a Belfast queen as long as Belfast will have me.

“The drag scene is a little bit smaller, but I think that builds such a wonderful community. There is such a diverse scene in such a small place, which is amazing.

“I hope I do our wee country proud.”

Drag Race UK starts at 21:00 BST on Thursday on BBC Three and is available on BBC iPlayer.