Lawrence Chaney (born Lawrence Maidment; 16 October 1996) is a Scottish
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
-based
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
. They are best known for winning the
second series of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race UK
''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...
'', becoming the first Scottish drag queen to win across the franchise. Their role on the series later earned them the 2021
BAFTA Scotland Audience Award.
As part of their ''Drag Race'' victory, Chaney was awarded their own online television series, later titled ''Tartan Around'', which premiered in 2022.
Career
Chaney has professionally fulfilled their career as a drag performer since 2014 in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. In an interview with
''Metro'', Chaney said their drag surname "Chaney" was inspired by 1920s prolific silent movie star
Lon Chaney
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...
and explained that, "He was known as the man of a thousand faces and I'm known as the queen of a thousand faces, because I'm good at impersonation, stupid voices and general buffoonery."
In December 2020, Chaney was announced as one of twelve contestants competing on the
second series of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race UK
''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...
''.
On 18 March 2021, Chaney was announced as the winner of the series, becoming the first
Scottish and first
plus-size winner of a ''Drag Race'' season hosted by RuPaul (the first ever being ''
Drag Race Thailand'' season 1 winner
Natalia Pliacam
Natalia Pliacam, stage name of Assadayut Khunviseadpong, is a Thai drag performer, best known for winning the first season of '' Drag Race Thailand'', the Thai spinoff of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''.
Biography
Khunviseadpong is of Chinese descent, a ...
). As part of their ''Drag Race'' victory, Chaney was awarded their own online television series, later titled ''Tartan Around'', which premiered in 2022.
In March 2021, Chaney, alongside their fellow ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' finalists
Tayce
Tayce Szura-Radix (born 28 May 1994) is a Welsh drag queen and model from Newport, Wales. She is best known for competing in the second series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', where she was placed as a runner-up.
Career
Tayce has professionally ...
,
Bimini Bon Boulash and
Ellie Diamond, was photographed and interviewed for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' and later ''
British Vogue
British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Montrose Nast. British ''Vogue'' editor in 2012 c ...
''. Lawrence also embarked on a UK Tour alongside
A'Whora, Bimini Bon-Boulash, and Tayce for the United Kingdolls Tour with promoter Klub Kids in July 2021,
and in February 2022, Chaney embarked on ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK: The Official Tour'' alongside the entire cast of the second series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', in association with
World of Wonder and promoter Voss Events.
In April 2021, Chaney was interviewed for and featured on the cover of ''
Attitude's'' "Tea Time Digital Special", in association with
Taimi. Chaney was also a featured guest and panelist at the digital National Student Pride 2021 event.
In May 2021,
Transworld announced they had acquired the rights to Chaney's forthcoming memoir, ''Lawrence (Drag) Queen of Scots: The Dos and Don'ts of a Drag Superstar.''
Preceding ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', Chaney has been a frequent collaborator with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
). On 21 August 2021, they presented the Saturday mid-morning slot on
and other drag queens, as part of "Drag Day".
in England. Chaney currently resides within the
, Scotland. They have expressed their support for
.
Chaney struggles with their
. In an article for the ''
'', Chaney wrote: "I still don’t know if I am male, female, or somewhere in between. I think the best way to describe my gender is fluid, but this isn’t finite. I see myself as ever evolving and always discovering more about myself." Chaney uses they/them as pronouns.
In June 2021, during the
.