“It’s taken me a lot of time to gain the courage to completely be myself in everyday life.” Jade Thirlwall said (Getty)
Little Mix Jade Thirlwall interviewed RuPaul for the new issue of Cosmopolitan, and revealed that she fell for her boyfriend when she saw him in drag.
Ahead of the band’s upcoming album Confetti, the singer sat down with the queen of drag to discuss everything from Drag Race UK season two to personal struggles and triumphs.
When discussing the power of drag , Jade talked about her boyfriend, actor and musician Jordan Stephens, who she said loves drag culture.
“It’s really important for me that whoever I find relationship-wise loves drag culture,” Jade told RuPaul.
“When I first started talking to my boyfriend [Jordan Stephens], I discovered he did a movie where he played a drag queen and I was like, right, that’s it.
“He’s perfect. Sign me up! A straight man who’s willing to dress in drag and loves being queer and feminine.”
Jade Thirlwall: Appearing on Drag Race UK was ‘one of the best days of my life’.
RuPaul replied saying: “I love Drag Race for that reason, watching these men give themselves permission to behave in ways that society would not let them and then watching the emotions come up.”
Jade Thirlwall previously dated Jed Elliot from The Struts, but the couple split in July 2019. This summer she was spotted at a Black Trans Lives Matter protests in London with Jordan and was also seen on vacation with him.
The Little Mix singer is a vocal and dedicated LGBT+ ally. In 2019 she, alongside Drag Race judge Michelle Visage, raised ₤10,000 for trans kids charity Mermaids.
In the Cosmopolitan interview, Jade also described her appearance on Drag Race UK as a judge as “one of the best days of my life.”
She continued to talk about how Drag Race and drag culture helped her in her personal and professional life. She said she relates to drag queens as most are shy, but when on stage, become larger than life characters.
“It wasn’t until I got on stage that I would put this persona on and channel drag queens. You really helped me to do that,” she told RuPaul.
She explained that the show helped her find self-love, saying: “I’m quite rectangular and I’ve got little boobies — but I’ve learned to embrace that, and that’s what drag culture is about.”