Lawrence John Bolton (born 27 September 1990), better known by the stage name Tia Kofi, is a British

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 o ...

from

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. They are best known for 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 ...

''.

Career

Tia Kofi began their career as a

in 2014, when they started drag on the same day and at the same venue as

series 1 The IBM Series/1 is a 16-bit minicomputer, introduced in 1976, that in many respects competed with other minicomputers of the time, such as the PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corporation and similar offerings from Data General and HP. The Seri ...

contestant Sum Ting Wong. Their name is a play on the phrase "tea or coffee?", and as part of their initial entrance confessional, Tia Kofi joked that they'd named themself after

Tia Mowry Tia Mowry is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring role as Tia Landry in the sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (1994–1999), opposite her twin sister Tamera Mowry. The sisters then starred together in the Disney Channel Or ...

from American sitcom '' Sister Sister'' and former

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

. Prior to competing on the second series of ''

,'' Kofi frequently performed in venues across

, predominantly in

. Kofi is a part of a drag girl-group called ''The Vixens'' consisting of Kofi, Pixie Polite and Woe Addams. In December 2020, Tia Kofi was announced as one of twelve contestants competing on the second series of ''

''. After lip synching three times, Tia Kofi ultimately placed seventh overall. In February 2021, shortly after their elimination from ''Drag Race'', Tia Kofi released their debut single "Outside In" (co-written by

Little Boots Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist she has released ...

Tom Aspaul Thomas Paul Frederick Dutton, known professionally as Tom Aspaul is a British singer and songwriter from Wolverhampton. He released his debut album, '' Black Country Disco'' in 2020 to critical acclaim. His songwriting credits include Kylie M ...

and Gil Lewis), as well as a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

on 24 February 2021. In May 2021, Tia Kofi performed alongside series 1 winner

The Vivienne James Lee Williams (born 12 April 1992), better known by the stage name The Vivienne, is a Welsh drag queen, known for being appointed the first UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ambassador in 2015, winning the first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race U ...

, and fellow series 2 contestant

Veronica Green Kevin Max Grogan, better known by the stage name Veronica Green, is a British drag performer most known for competing on the second and third series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Career Prior to appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race, Green appeare ...

at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

in "Drag Queens of Pop", which was one of the first performances on the West End after the third national

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In February 2022, Tia Kofi embarked on ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK: The Official Tour'' alongside the entire cast of series 2, in association with World of Wonder and promoter Voss Events. Their set consisted of "Outside In" followed by "

Don't Start Now "Don't Start Now" is a song by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa. Lipa wrote the song with Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren, and its producer Ian Kirkpatrick (record producer), Ian Kirkpatrick. The song was released for digital download and streami ...

" by

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

and "No Way" from the musical ''

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

''. In May 2023, Tia Kofi released their third EP, ''Pride. Power. Pop.'' and single "Standing Up for the Lonely" They played the digital assistant ALGO in the second series of "

Olga Koch Olga Alfredovna Koch (; born 1 September 1992) is a Russian-British stand-up comedian, writer, and actress. Early life Koch is the daughter of Alfred Koch, head of the State Committee for State Property Management of the Russian Federation from ...

: OK Computer" on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

from May 2023.

Personal life

Tia Kofi identifies as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

. They are the drag mother of Victoria Scone. Kofi uses

they In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accusat ...

/she pronouns.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As featured artist

Stage

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kofi, Tia 1990 births Living people 21st-century British LGBT people 21st-century British people English drag queens Gay entertainers RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestants Entertainers from London People from Clapham