Dexter Clift (born 8 April 1998), known professionally as River Medway, is an English drag queen who is best known for competing on the

third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

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 ...

'' in 2021.

Career

In 2021, River Medway was announced as one of the

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have ...

competing in the

of ''

''. During her time on the show, River Medway's runway look inspired by Thomas Fletcher Waghorn gained comedy attention on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. She also discussed her mother dying from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, and revealed that she received a call for the show not long after her death. River Medway was eliminated from the competition following the

Snatch Game Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the ''Drag Race'' television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series. Since the second season of the original American ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' series in 2010, the challenge ha ...

episode, alongside

Choriza May Choriza May (born Adrian Martín Esteve) is a Spanish-British drag performer, graphic designer, and illustrator most known for competing on series 3 of '' RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' and the second series of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World' ...

after a lip sync to " Shout" resulted in

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

deciding to eliminate both of them in a double elimination. In 2022, River Medway embarked on the ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK: The Official Tour'' alongside her fellow cast members. Later that year, River Medway joined the cast of the show ''Death Drop: Back in the Habit'', alongside ''

Drag Race Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

'' alumni Victoria Scone,

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...

, and

Cheryl Hole Cheryl, formerly known as Cheryl Hole (born 18 October 1993), is the stage name of Luke Underwood-Bleach, an English drag queen known for being one of the first contestants on the first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' (2019), as well as the ...

. The show played at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

followed by a UK Tour in 2023. In October 2023, it was announced River Medway had been cast as

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

in the

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

musical "Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch". The show played for 10 weeks at

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London with two venues, both located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They ident ...

and embarked on a UK tour to 20 cities in 2024. In July 2024 River Medway was announce as the ''Mistress of Ceremonies'' i
House of Cleopatra
due to play at

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

this summer. In November 2024, River Medway will appear as Jem in the world premiere of ''Here & Now'', a jukebox musical based on the songs of Steps at

The Alexandra, Birmingham The Alexandra, commonly known as the Alex, is a theatre on Suffolk Queensway in Birmingham, England. History Construction of the theatre commenced in 1900 and was completed in 1901. The architects were Owen & Ward and the theatre was opened on ...

Personal life

Dexter Clift was born in

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. The name of his drag persona comes from the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

that flows through his hometown. On July 25th 2024, Dexter was awarded with an Honorary Doctor of Arts (HonDArts) by the

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along wi ...

recognising his outstanding commitment to the

area and exceptional representation of the LGBT+ community (as ''River Medway'').

Filmography

Television

Stage

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medway, River 1998 births Living people English drag queens English gay entertainers People from Medway RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestants