INTERVIEW
MICHELLE:
The presenter tells Closer about her dreams to appear in more Brit TV shows, and learning to love her body after having her implants removed
She’s a born and bred American–having grown up in New Jersey and now living in California – but after starring on the likes of Celebrity Big Brother, Strictly Come Dancing and even reality show TOWIE, Michelle Visage has become a household name in the UK. And now the Drag Race judge says that she’d love to star in even more British TV shows.
DREAM JOB
Michelle, 54, exclusively tells Closer, “TOWIE was one of my favourite shows for many, many seasons – Iloved it. I also watched Made In Chelsea at the same time and I’m a huge Benidorm fan. I would have loved to have been on that, but it ended before I could.
“It would be a dream to work on EastEnders, I’ve put that out there. I’ve always said I need to be Kat Slater’s American cousin, but the right thing will show up at the right time, that’s what I tell myself.”
At the moment, Michelle – who is mum to Lillie, 23, and Lola, 21, with husband of 24 years David Case, 54 – splits her time between LA and London, having begun to see the UK as her second home.
Michelle explains, “I just absolutely adore this country, everything about it. I love the people and I feel like I’m at home here and have been welcomed with open arms. People don’t have anything negative to say – at least to my face – they’ve welcomed me as a British citizen and I love that. I loved the Coronation, it’s a spectacle for an American! I also watched the concert on the Sunday.
“My husband and I talk about living here permanently all the time. We’re going to wait till the kids are done with uni though because I don’t want to be an 11-hour flight away, but absolutely I see that in my future.”
Having risen to fame in the US in the late ’80s as part of the girl group Seduction, releasing dance-pop and house tracks, Michelle became a beloved addition to our screens in 2011 as the larger-than-life matriarch of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
She later broke into the UK mainstream after starring on CBB in 2015, alongside Katie Hopkins, Perez Hilton and Katie Price, with whom she built a friendship. And with Katie going through a difficult time recently with her on/off relationship with Carl Woods, and a court date in July after filing for bankruptcy, Michelle reveals she has her back.
“I’m still in touch with Katie,” says Michelle. “People need to know what a wonderful person she is at heart. She has it very hard and she lives very loudly and very publicly – I’m begging her to stop because people always have something
