The drag queen, DJ and recording artist reflects on sneaking out to G-A-Y, role models and ‘big’ makeup
Jodie Harsh in 2019 and 2023. Later photograph: Pål Hansen. Styling: Andie Redman. Archive photograph: Brett Cove/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
I’m wearing my usual get-up and the hairstyle is the same as always. When it comes to appearances, I look up to showbiz icons like Anna Wintour or Andy Warhol, people who stick to the same style for decades. Their work comes first. That being said, there have been intricate, subtle adjustments made to my wig over the years. It’s getting smaller and smaller, which started during the pandemic, possibly as there was less need for drama.
I was 15 when I started going to clubs with fake ID. I’d climb out of the bathroom window and sneak on to the train from Canterbury to London wearing a whistle and a crop top under my jacket. I’ll never forget stepping into G-A-Y at the Astoria for the first time. I’d battled with my sexuality for years but walking into that club, filled with 2,000 people like me, dancing and kissing, I felt as if I was home.
He did eventually find out, however. Five years into my career, I was asked to go on [Mary Portas’s TV show] Mary Queen of Shops, where I was tasked to style some grannies in a charity shop. Unbeknown to me, Dad was watching it with his new wife. He turned to her and said: “Is that my son?” His wife knew and said: “Yes.” We haven’t spoken since.late Paul O’Grady
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