Dancing On Ice paid tribute to former contestant The Vivienne during their launch show on Sunday following their tragic deaths last week.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner, who came third when they competed on the ITV skating show in 2023, died suddenly on January 5 at the age of 32.
Presenters Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern opened Sunday’s Dancing On Ice with a tribute to The Vivienne, whose real name was James Williams – but viewers were less than impressed.
Holly said to the camera: “Before we go any further, many of you, like us, are saddened by the tragedy of The Vivienne’s passing last weekend.
“Now they played a big part of the show, they made it to the final in 2023 and they will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with Vivienne’s loved ones at this sad time. So sad.’
Viewers branded the tribute ‘fake’ and claimed the message had ‘no care or feeling’ as they criticized the show for not featuring any dancing from The Vivienne.
Dancing On Ice paid tribute to former contestant The Vivienne at Sunday’s launch show following the drag queen’s tragic death last week at the age of 32
The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, who came third when they competed on the ITV skating show in 2023, died suddenly on January 5
On X, formerly Twitter, viewers wrote: ‘I thought they might have said/done a bit more when it came to paying tribute to The Vivienne, showing previous clips and, or a dance routine in memory of perhaps:’;
‘No #DancingOnIce claiming they were a tribute to The Vivienne and they say next to nothing they’re paying more tribute than that stupid bolero, what a fucking terrible show,’;
“Was that seriously the tribute to The Vivienne they were talking about?” I hope there’s something else later in the show because that’s the only reason I tuned in icl,’;
‘Is that a tribute to The Vivienne, a few words, why can’t we at least see some dancing etc’;
‘It didn’t really seem fair, to be honest. The Vivienne deserved better’;
‘What an absolute insult to The Vivienne. Fake. Sickening. Smells like “first of all, are you okay?”;
“That #DoI #DancingOnIce tribute to #TheVivienne was absolutely disgusting. No VT, no image on the big screen… the opening dance could have been a dedication. It seemed like there was no feeling or care in it at all.”
The Vivienne turned heads in 2015 as the British drag ambassador for the American version of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Holly said to the camera: “Before we go any further, many of you, like us, are saddened by the tragedy of The Vivienne’s passing last weekend.”
Viewers branded the tribute ‘fake’ and claimed the message had ‘no care or feeling’ as they criticized the show for not featuring any of The Vivienne’s dances.
Viewers on
RuPaul broke his silence publicly for the first time since The Vivienne’s death as he opened DragCon UK at the ExCel London on Friday.
RuPaul, 64, who discovered Welsh-born artist, real name James Lee Williams, in season one of his hit BBC show, he looked visibly emotional with his best friend Michelle Visage by his side, wearing a mini dress with ‘The Vivienne’ embroidered on it.
He told the audience at DragCon UK: “We are here to celebrate and spread life and love. We want to focus on love’.
“We’re going to remember our dear Vivienne with love and life because that’s what she was all about and she would want you to live your life and be free and have a lot of fun and spread that.”
Organizers have set up a memorial wall and memorial books where the thousands of fans expected to attend the event this weekend can remember the late entertainer who won the British series of the show in 2019.
On Wednesday, RuPaul hit back at fellow drag star Tyra Sanchez, posting a controversial tweet about The Vivienne.
Sanchez, real name James Ross, took to The Vivienne almost five years ago and responded to news of the shocking death with a scathing joke about the late artist.
Sanchez reposted a tweet from The Vivienne from July 2020, in which the latter wrote: “Bet Tyra was furious when she realized Netflix had spoiled the win too. Sorry girl. But you tried.’ Quoting the tweet, Sanchez replied, “Still, it doesn’t compare to the fumes from the crematorium.”
RuPaul broke his silence publicly for the first time since The Vivienne’s death as he opened DragCon UK at the ExCel London on Friday
The death of the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner last week at the age of 32 has left the drag community in mourning
Sanchez, another Drag Race alum, received vocal backlash on social media from fans of The Vivienne who were outraged by the post.
Amid the furor, RuPaul posted a throwback video to Instagram on Wednesday in which he pretended to punch Sanchez during an acting challenge on Drag Race.
As news of The Vivienne’s death caused an outpouring of grief among fans, Sanchez, winner of the US version of the program in 2010, took to social media to discuss a nearly five-year social media feud with The Vivienne rather revive it by posting her crematorium tweet. .
Receiving criticism from fans and fellow drag stars alike, Sanchez was unrepentant, writing on social media the next day: ‘She’s dead. Rotting. Sending me all the hate in the world won’t bring her back. But do what you have to do.
‘Thanks to you, the tweet reached more than 25,000 people. Thank you for the much-needed attention I so desperately needed.”
And despite further criticism, with I owned a crematorium. .’
The soundtrack to the post was the Alicia Keys hit Girl on Fire.
Social media users reacted furiously again, variously labeling Sanchez as “disgusting,” “despicable” and “sad.”