Chanel Williams, sister of The Vivienne, has spoken out about her brother’s hidden battles prior to their untimely passing in a heartfelt chat with ITV. “We didn’t know that struggle that was going on towards the end of his life,” she revealed. “That stigma we need to break down.” The Vivienne, crowned Drag Race UK champion, sadly died in January, and it was later confirmed by their manager and close friend Simon Jones this month that the cause was “from the effects of ketamine use causing a cardiac arrest”. Sharing the news on Instagram, Simon stated: “James’s family and I feel it is important to say how James tragically died. We hope that by us releasing this information we can raise awareness about the dangers of ongoing ketamine usage and what it can do your body.”
The Vivienne passed away after suffering cardiac arrest from ketamine use
In an emotional conversation with Lorraine Kelly on ITV regarding The Vivienne’s passing, Chanel expressed: “It’s completely devastated us all. It was so unexpected and he loved life. Now, reflecting on everything, you just think, ‘What can you take from this now and what can we do?'”. “So as a family we’re really passionate about turning this into something where we can make a difference and we can make a chance and raise awareness around the drug ketamine and the dangers,” reports the Mirror. Chanel opened up about The Vivienne’s battle with addiction, admitting the family was unaware they had relapsed. “He’s gone through long periods of sobriety so for us as a family, we didn’t know that struggle that was clearly going on towards the end of his life,” she shared. “He was maintaining, he was on tour, doing so well. He was reading scripts for the future. So I think that stigma we need to break down so people feel about to talk.” She continued: “It’s hard if you’ve battled and then gone through that period of sobriety, it’s even harder to come back and say, ‘I’m struggling again.'”
The Vivienne’s brother Chanel appeared on Lorraine today
Paying homage to her brother, Chanel described them as “an iconic trailblazer” and expressed her belief that their legacy includes this fight against addiction. “We remember that and I feel like this now is also James’s legacy as well. I know that he would want this. He struggled and he was open about that, I know that he would want this fight. This is beyond the most devastating time. For me to see my parents struggle as they are, we’ve just got to channel that into hoping that other families don’t feel like this.” During the conversation, Lorraine praised Chanel’s efforts: “I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing, It’s so hard when you lose someone, doing so well, doing incredible, very, very open about problems in the past with drugs, very, very open about that. I don’t think anybody really realised the struggles.” Chanel added: “I think that goes back to the stigma that is around and trying to break that stigma down because James was quite open, as you say, about his previous struggles and he’d gone through long periods of sobriety so for us as a family, we didn’t know that struggle that was clearly going on towards the end of his life.” On Lorraine’s show, Chanel also touched on the issue that ketamine isn’t classified as a class A drug. “I think that’s where the classification of the drug currently isn’t in line with the risks that are associated,” she remarked while speaking on the ITV programme. She expressed concern that the younger generation might perceive it as less dangerous due to its classification. The Vivienne opened up about their past drug addiction during their stint on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. On the first series of the hit reality show, they confessed: “It was party, drugs, but I couldn’t leave the drugs at the party, it was constant for me.” They went on to describe their addiction as a “habit that caught on a bit too quick and a bit too hard”. They shared a harrowing time when they were told: “I had to be kicked out of my house and told that I would be dead by the time I was 30. It was the loneliest part of my life, I was killing myself… and my family don’t even know. I was pissing my life up the wall and I could’ve been dead now if I didn’t do anything about it.”
