Celebrity MasterChef star Cheryl Hole couldn’t care less about backlash from homophobic trolls
Cheryl Hole. (BBC/Shine TV)
Drag Race star Cheryl Hole has said that appearing on programmes such as Celebrity MasterChef shows the public has nothing to fear from LGBTQ+ people.
The drag artist, who found fame on the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, is set to appear on the competitive cooking reality show’s penultimate week of heats on Wednesday evening (16 August).
Speaking to the BBC about her appearance, Cheryl said that LGBTQ+ representation is important on mainstream television given that the “the community [is] under attack”.
Citing the recent homophobic knife attack outside the Two Brewers in south London, which left two men injured, the drag star said we are in “a day and age where I feel like the movement is going a bit backwards” and “there [are] more hate crimes”.
“We’ve just had an attack on LGBTQ+ community in Clapham the other day,” the queen said. “I don’t understand what’s happening in the world and to have representation for our community, to have voices and stories heard, shows we are nothing to be feared.”
Taking part in MasterChef is a chance for people to “have a laugh and just forget”, she added.
“We’re light, laughter and entertainment. We’re just here for a good time and to make sure everyone is looked after.”
The incident in Clapham is no real surprise, given rising hate crime rates across the UK and increasing scrutiny of drag acts by right-wingers who have protested against events, pushed abhorrent “grooming” conspiracy theories and sought to ban performances.
Cheryl herself is facing a fierce backlash from trolls on social media for her appearance on MasterChef, with anti-drag pundits claiming her act is “misogynistic” and a “gross representation” of womanhood.
Happily, the drag star isn’t taking the backlash to heart, and posted on social media that she’s simply amused by “people getting angry for me cooking a bit of food”.
Cheryl also told her followers that she’s keeping note of those accusing her of being a “paedophile, pervert and groomer”.
In the US, a number of states have tabled legislation to ban drag from public life, alongside hundreds of other anti-LGBTQ+ bills which roll back access to gender-affirming care, anti-discrimination protections and freedom of speech.
“We’re just individuals wanting to live our lives, doing no harm and causing no grievances to anybody, so I don’t understand why people take such an issue to us as a community,” Cheryl said.
Touching on what it was like to take part in the cooking competition, she admitted that she was “no Michelin-starred chef before entering that kitchen” but wanted to challenge herself.
“My husband is the cook in our family… so, I wanted to see how far I could go with this,” she added.
