Charra Tea is the stage name of James Martin, an Irish drag performer who competed on the sixth series 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 ...

''. Charra Tea was crowned Miss Congeniality and placed 6th.

Early life

Martin was born in Belfast. She was first drawn to drag after portraying the role of Mr. Pinky in a production of ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * Hairspray (1988 film), ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** Hairspray (1988 soundtrack), ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundt ...

'' as a teenager while attending

Grosvenor Grammar School Grosvenor Grammar School (formerly Grosvenor High School) is an 11–18 co-educational, grammar school and sixth form in Belfast, Northern Ireland. History Grosvenor Grammar School was founded in 1945 as Grosvenor High School, by the Belfast ...

. She was later inspired to pursue a drag career by the dresses and costumes she saw at the

charity shop A charity shop is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. Charity shops are a type of social enterprise. They sell mainly used goods such as clothing, books, music albums, shoes, toys, and furniture donated by ...

she volunteered at on Botanic Avenue, Belfast. The shop also provided inspiration for her stage name, as it is a pun on the word "charity". She began experimenting with makeup in October 2018, performed as Charra Tea for the first time in January 2019, and began performing regularly in April of that year. She left Belfast at age 19 to study

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Career

Martin is a drag performer who competed as Charra Tea on the sixth series of ''

''. She is known as the "

Primary Color Primary colors are colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a broad range of colors in, e.g., electronic displays, color prin ...

Princess". Charra Tea was the third contestant from Northern Ireland to compete in the show, following

Blu Hydrangea Blu Hydrangea (born 15 February 1996) is the stage name of Joshua Cargill, a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish drag queen from Belfast who competed the RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 1, first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' in 2019, a ...

and Jonbers Blonde. She has stated her drag inspirations to be

Miz Cracker Miz Cracker (born April 19, 1984) is the stage name of Maxwell Elias Heller, an American drag queen and television personality. He is best known for placing fifth on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and for being a runner-up on the fif ...

, Robyn Diamonds and Rusty Hinges. Her drag is inspired by bold colors and her background as an "artsy kid", and enjoys incorporating references to British and Irish pop culture figures such as

Gemma Collins Gemma Clair Collins (born 31 January 1981) is an English media personality and businesswoman. She came to prominence for her appearances on the ITVBe reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex'' (2011–2019)''.'' Collins went on to appear on vario ...

Kim Woodburn Patricia Mary "Kim" Woodburn ( McKenzie; 25 March 1942 – 16 June 2025) was an English television personality, writer, and expert cleaner. Known as the "Queen of Clean", she came to prominence by co-presenting the Channel 4 series '' How Clean ...

, and

Nadine Coyle Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle (born 15 June 1985) is an Irish singer. In 2002, she was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The Rivals''. T ...

into her performances.

Filmography

* ''

'' (

series 6 Series 6 or Season 6 may refer to: *Series 6 exam In the United States, the investment company products/variable life contracts representative exam, is commonly referred to as the Series 6 exam. Individuals passing this multiple choice exam are l ...

, 2024)

References

{{RuPaul's Drag Race UK 2000 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds Drag queens from Northern Ireland People from Belfast RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestants 21st-century LGBTQ people from Northern Ireland

Early life

Career

Filmography

See also

References