Banksie is the stage name of Jonathan Banks, a British

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...

performer and a contestant on

series 5 Series 5 may refer to: * Aston Martin V8 Series 5, an automobile model * BMW 5 Series, a line of automobiles * GeForce 5 Series, a line of video cards * Psion Series 5, a line of handheld computers * South African Class 6E1, Series 5, a series o ...

of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

''.

Early life and education

Banksie was born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

and studied at the

Manchester School of Art Manchester School of Art on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road in Manchester, England, was established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design. It is the second-oldest art school in the United Kingdom after the Royal College of Art which was founded ...

(

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

). She began performing in

after watching early seasons of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''.

Career

Banksie is a drag performer.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

has said, "This particular seven-foot supermodel is obsessed with all things burlesque, and loves to channel the 'dark, horrible women' of the 1930s and 1940s with a modern twist." Banksie has said, "My inspirations originate from fashion in the early 90s to the 2000s. I love Thierry Mugler, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Paul Galliano. I love researching fashion and then finding a way to make it work on my body." She is artistic director for the venue Firehouse on Swan Street. Banksie competed on

of ''

''. She was eliminated from the competition after placing in the bottom two of the

Rusical A Rusical (portmanteau of "RuPaul" and "musical") is a musical theatre challenge recurring across the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' television franchise. Rusical productions began in 2014 during the RuPaul's Drag Race season 6, sixth seaso ...

challenge and losing a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

against

DeDeLicious DeDeLicious is the stage name of Charlie Veysey-Smith, a British drag performer who has appeared on the BBC reality series '' Keeping Up with Krystal Versace'' and competed on series 5 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Career DeDeLicious is a dra ...

to "

I Dreamed a Dream "I Dreamed a Dream" is a song from the 1980 musical ''Les Misérables''. It is a solo that is sung by Fantine during the first act. The music is by Claude-Michel Schönberg, with orchestrations by John Cameron. The English lyrics are by Herbe ...

" by

Susan Boyle Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer who rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of '' Britain's Got Talent'', singing " I Dreamed a Dream" from '. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 ...

Personal life

Banksie lives in Manchester. She is part of the "drag family" of

Cheddar Gorgeous Cheddar Gorgeous is the stage name of Michael John Atkins, a British drag performer and academic who competed on series 4 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Career Atkins competed as Cheddar Gorgeous on the fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race ...

. Banksie is

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and 6'8", but approximately seven feet tall in heels, making her one of the tallest contestants on ''Drag Race''.

Discography

As lead artist

Featured singles

Filmography

Television

* ''

Bring Back My Girls ''Bring Back My Girls'' is a reality television series hosted by American television personality Ts Madison. The first season premiered October 18, 2022 on WOW Presents Plus. The series is formatted as a reunion special, where in every epis ...

References

External links

Behind the Scenes with Manchester's 7ft Supermodel Drag Queen
''Manchester's Finest'' {{RuPaul's Drag Race UK Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University British drag queens British non-binary entertainers Drag performers from Manchester Non-binary drag performers People from Wigan RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestants