Cherry Valentine: 'We're losing much more than an amazing drag queen'

Friends and fans of Cherry Valentine, star of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, have been paying tribute to the performer, following their death aged 28.

Cherry was the creation of George Ward, who was raised within the Traveller community in Darlington.

Ward was also a mental health nurse and documented their experiences of working throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among their many friends is Newcastle-based performer PlastiQ, who remembers their "constant laughing".

"We both came from working-class backgrounds, we just made each other laugh all the time," they said.

"We had been talking about how she had been on drag race and I was like, 'You're famous now, you don't have to be a nurse anymore,' and she said, 'No I want to be a nurse, being a nurse was my first love, I want to keep doing that - drag I'll keep doing when I can."

Speaking to BBC Look North, PlastiQ said that people were not just losing "an amazing drag queen", they were losing much more.

"They are also losing an activist, a person who cared for other people, a voice for the Traveller community," they added.

"She really did use her platform on television to let other queer Travellers know that it's OK to be you - and that level of activism from a unique point of view is unfathomable."

Following their appearance on the BBC Three show, Cherry loaned five of her costumes to Middlesbrough's Dorman Museum, which formed part of the 2021 exhibition A Curious Night at the Museum.

"Cherry was really excited to be involved in the project and having the costumes on display here," said curatorial officer Zoe Wilson.

"We had the one where she walked in for the first time and the headdress fell on the floor - we displayed it with the headdress on the floor by the bottom of the dress and she was really tickled by that.

"We hadn't done anything like that at the museum before and we set it in our oldest gallery as well, which is the only original part of the museum that is still on display.

"It was a real juxtaposition - you have these old taxidermy birds in a Victorian setting and this huge drag queen display and it just worked. Even the traditional older visitors were saying, 'Wow, look at that'."

"Some of the bits fell off and needed to be glued back on and I have a couple of little beads that I have kept all this time," she said.

"She came to the museum at a later date to do a make-up tutorial with a group of young people and was such fun and so kind and inspirational to them, it was such a good day.

"She's an inspiration character, so positive and so many sides to her with the mental health nursing and the roots in the Traveller community.

"I can't believe someone so vibrant isn't there anymore."

Before her appearance on Drag Race UK, Cherry said she was "excited to bring the world's eye to Darlington, because it's such a crazy town".

She added: "I just wanted to go on and show wherever you come from, whoever you are, you can do whatever makes you happy."

Middlesbrough drag queen Skankii Kandl - the alter-ego of 20-year-old Aiden Wilson - called Cherry "inspiring" and said he would be thinking about her while performing at the town's Pride this weekend.

"She was just so talented and somebody that a lot of people looked up to and I think will still look up to in the future," Aiden added.

"Seeing her - I think that's inspired me - one day I want to go on drag race and show myself to world like how she did.

"With her being a psychiatric nurse, she has helped so many people but there's so many other people who watched her that she also helped as well.

"I do wish I had got to meet her - she had such a big impact on so many people - her legacy will never be forgotten."