Peaches Queen, winner of this year's Alternative Miss Ireland, talks to EOIN BUTLER
Eoin Butler:Congratulations, first of all, on being crowned Alternative Miss Ireland. You must be delighted!
Peaches Queen:Oh, my God, I'm over the moon. I still can't believe it, to be honest.
EB:Was this your first year to enter?
PQ:It was. In fact, it was my first year even to attend. I only started doing drag about 18 months ago. Someone told me about AMI and I thought, to hell with it, why not? But I knew that if I entered, I'd have to be good.
EB:What was the secret of your success?
PQ:Attention to detail, I think. I was playing a futuristic Queen Elizabeth character, with a very big, Lady Gaga-esque production. My dancers were my army and we were coming to invade the stage. I practised my routines every day, the costumes and choreography were fantastic and I had a very big crew to support me. So, I suppose that was the secret.
EB:Among those helping you out, of course, was your mother.
PQ:That's right. My Mam and Dad are just so supportive. I'm very lucky like that. My mother has no problem designing sequined dresses for me. She did all my costumes. In the day-wear section she designed an enormous skirt for me. It was 2.4m (8ft) high and 1.8m (6ft) wide.I had 10 dancers hidden inside it – and covered in CDs. It was out of this world.
EB:Do many other contestants' parents get involved?
PQ:I don't think so. When I won, my Mam came backstage to congratulate me. She was so happy, she cried. It was priceless to see the looks on people's faces when the penny dropped. They were like, "That's his mother!" I mean, how cool is that?
EB:At 20, you're the youngest ever winner of the competition. Do young gay people in Ireland these days still come up against homophobia or has the situation improved?
PQ:Oh, it has definitely improved. Ireland is just so open now. It's really, really cool. A new generation has grown up who are totally comfortable with people being who they are. They have never had a problem with me being different. I've had friends come over to visit from Argentina and Brazil – where there are huge gay communities – and they think Dublin is the greatest. They think it's the gayest city in the world!
EB:As the holder of the title Alternative Miss Ireland, what are your duties? Will you be opening supermarkets?
PQ:(Laughs) It hasn't all been decided yet. It's all been such a blur. Now obviously, I'm a hairdresser by trade. I work in the Queen Beauty Emporium on Aungier Street in Dublin. So that's my number one priority.
But I hope to do a tour around the country making appearances in gay bars and so on.
