On the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season four, the drag queens were tasked with a Big Brother and Squid Games parody acting challenge which saw them enter the ‘Big Mother’ house and compete in the Squirrel Games.
On the runway, the category was ruffles, but in the Werk Room, as the queens got ready, chat turned to the topic of families. Black Peppa – who has previously spoken openly on the show about their upbringing on the Caribbean island of St Martin and their religious parents – spoke instead about their chosen family in their adopted city of Birmingham; including fellow drag performer Yshee Black who hosted the competition Church of Yshee which Black Peppa won in 2019.
“In Birmingham the queer family that I have made there, they have brought out who Black Peppa is,” Peppa told the other queens competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, “At home in Birmingham, I do have a loving family. I always say that family doesn’t have to be blood. Family to me, is the family that you make.
“Birmingham family they help me to accept things about myself that I didn’t necessarily like, for example being quiet and shy, but they saw that and they were like “there’s someone behind all of that”, and I’m like, no one has ever kind of spoken to me like that, not even my parents.
“My queer family has been there for me through and through, and I don’t take that lightly. I am so thankful to have them in my life and for them seeing the potential that I’ve always had that I probably necessarily never seen.”
To quote @RuPaul, we are a family here.
We ❤️ you @iamblackpeppa! #DragRaceUK pic.twitter.com/tlFDinBl8h
— RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (@dragraceukbbc) November 10, 2022
In response, Twitter saw an outpouring of love from those in Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community, including Yshee Black, who tweeted, “Even though it doesn’t need to be said my love for the Birmingham community and @iamblackpeppa is infinite we have shared so many amazing, funny moments and getting to know and love the person underneath the drag.”
