BIMINI is glam in every sense of the word. Last night as a pale, white-clad goddess for the 2024 Glamour Awards (from which they got back ‘just after midnight’ - a classic queer Cinderella) and this morning, fresh-faced, just back from a run, bundled in a fluffy white robe. I’m sensing a divine presence emanating from my computer screen that I long to remain in.
They attribute their look from last night - pure white, SS2025 Di Petsa with Louboutin shoes - to wanting to look like a ‘very, very sexy goddess.’ “Sometimes I can do something a bit provocative, or too out there, but last night I just wanted to give a bit of glamour!”
Although last night it was a crystal headpiece, Bimini wears many hats. Singer, drag queen, author, creative writer (although her mum disagrees with me here), dancer, DJ, podcast host, activist. Bims is the definition of someone who doesn’t want to be boxed in; especially in a world where it’s all too easy to compartmentalise people for having a certain identity of characteristic. In their case, it’s as a drag queen and former Drag Race UK contestant (Season 2), and boy are they T-I-R-E-D! Just tired enough to drop the Bon Boulash.
“I was always told ‘You can’t become a creative writer’ - I think by my mum, bless her - who wanted me to be a dentist. Worlds apart from what I do now,” says Bimini.
“I studied journalism at uni because I was really interested in people and in their stories. Giving people credit for what they’ve been through and who they are and exploring that is beautiful. I struggled with journalism because I was quite angry, leftwing, and just really angry on Facebook most of the time because of all the shit happening with Jeremy Corbyn [2016]. I thought, ‘I can’t be in this world because it makes me angry all of the time.’ I used drag as an outlet to create Bimini and perform politically-themed acts because drag is political. It was also a way for me to be creative. I always wanted to make music. I always wanted to do all these amazing things, but I didn’t always get the opportunity until drag opened that Pandora’s box for me.”
Despite the air of honest self-confidence, they allude back to a time in the not-so-distant past when they ‘weren’t taking care of themself properly’.
“I’ve always had confidence, but it’s about really owning that confidence and believing in yourself - which I’d say I lost over the years. I’m working on bringing that self-confidence back and just loving myself. I think that’s such an important thing, especially as a queer person. To love yourself as a queer person is the most radical thing you can do.”
“I’ve not always felt like I was seen in the most amazing way by people around me, so this year was about putting a halt to that and re-establishing what I want to get out of my career. I feel like I’m in the best place in many, many years, and I’m just excited to just be back, you know? I’m back to being an unapologetic bad bitch.”
BIMS Sometimes I can do something a bit provocative, or too out there, so I just wanted to give a bit of glamour last night! Very sex, very goddess.
BSC Would you say that femininity is more of an aesthetic or an identity?BIMS The world would not be in the state that it’s in right now if femininity was not seen as weaker than masculinity. I think everyone has femininity within them, and that it would basically heal the world if we were all in touch with our feminine side, you know? It’s beautiful, it’s powerful, and it’s, I dunno – divine? It’s a very empowering thing, and if you’re able to channel that in some way, then you should be able to. It’s not an aesthetic as much as an attitude and it’s a feeling.
BSC What’s it going to take for everyone to start owning their feminine side?BIMS I dunno! It’s a systemic issue - a societal thing. Boys are told from a young age that you have to behave a certain way and that you can’t show emotion - because emotions are for girls. You can’t be caring or look after kids - that’s what girls do. They have dolls. You are strong, you are macho, you can’t show weakness - it all becomes very binary. Whereas I think the idea behind true equilibrium is the perfect balance of masculinity and femininity.
BSC Would you say that gender bias exists even in the drag sphere? Maybe Kings versus Queens, or even viewing drag queens through one lens of female beauty standards?
BIMS A drag king has always existed. Drag has always been about fucking up and ripping up the gender role then deconstructing it and parodying it and empowering it and celebrating it in whichever form that is! I find that in the mainstream we don’t see a lot of drag kings. And I think that’s a shame. I find it amazing to see and witness the exploration of masculinity within those constraints. I love all forms of drag, but I think it’s punk and really strong when you see a trans-masc person. It’s radical! I wonder if it’s not hitting the mainstream as much because it is so radical, whereas the idea of a drag queen has become a lot more palatable and a lot less rooted in politics. I think that’s a shame because my drag has and always will be rooted in the political. Anyone who does drag and doesn’t see it as rooted in politics is in denial. BSC When and how did drag get ‘mainstream’?
BIMS On TV. My idea of what drag was isn’t necessarily what you see on mainstream television drag today. This idea of female illusion, and for some people it is female illusion, but mine is rooted in this East London DIY and punk. My inspiration for Drag Race UK wasn’t just drag queens - it was also supermodels and musicians and fashion. I was glad that I got to show that. I don’t think that drag should be limited to the need to look like a woman. Women come in all different shapes and sizes, and femininity does as well. Having this idea that you have to look a certain way in drag and wear a corset and the hip-pads perpetuates quite a false concept of what a woman is and what femininity is. Drag in the UK has always been rooted in the ‘less polished’. I think it’s a shame when it looks super polished because I like rawness and rough around the edges. We’ve seen pretty. I want to see weird.
"I was always told ‘You can’t become a creative writer!’ by my mum, bless her, who wanted me to be a dentist"
BSC Tell me more about your time coming up in the East London scene
BIMS I first did drag when I moved to London, but I was shit at it. I remember going out and seeing drag in larger-than-life personas. There was a fear back then, whereas now drag has become approachable. It’s great, but it wasn’t always for everyone. This whole thing of drag queens reading children’s books... that wasn’t what drag was.
I got to see outrageous, scary drag. Tall glamazons who were feared and fearless. At Sink the Pink I’d see people literally tearing apart the gender book of what I’d always seen and known. Their drag was hairy legs, toes hanging off their heels, and wearing [literal] lampshades. It was outrageous! And I loved it.
BSC So how was Bimini born?
BIMS It took me years of playing around, and I wasn’t very confident. Then I invented Bimini Bon Boulash when The Glory did Lipsync1000 in 2017. I went onstage as Hilary Clinton because it was just after the US election, and I was studying journalism - mostly political or current affairs or social issues. I took my clothes off, did a lap dance on ‘Donald Trump’ as Hillary Clinton to ‘Down in Mexico’. My friend was wearing the Trump mask and had her boobs out which said ‘Make America Gay Again’. There was a lot of stuff out at that time saying that Donald Trump was into water sports and urination, so we re-enacted that on stage too. It was crazy, and wild, but I was allowed to do that, and it got me through to the final. That night really birthed Bimini and validated this avenue that I wanted to explore in drag.
BSC Where do you recommend going for people who still want to see that kind of drag?
BIMS I like The Divine, (previously The Glory) and Dalston Superstore. They still do ‘old school’ drag in Soho, but East London is new school. I’d say that drag brunch killed drag (even though I did it for many years). I went from doing Donald Trump acts and getting oat milk poured all over me to doing a Brittney number at brunch because I had to pay my bills. If you’re a drag artist you’ve got to work and hustle if you really want to do this. You’ll have to do things you don’t always want to do - but I think that’s also how drag became very diluted. I want to bring that radical energy back, especially now more than ever with the current conversations around transgender; we need people standing up and saying we’re here, we’ve been here, we’re always going to be here.
BSC Any plans to bring the Trump show back to the main stage ahead of this November election?
BIMS Nothing right now - but who’s to say that I won’t come up with a crazy idea? I feel like I’m back in my prime. The last couple of years have been amazing, but I was also exhausted and burnt out a lot. I’m in a healthier place now, so I want to get back into performing outrageous stuff... I used to dance on a pole all the time. Let’s bring that back!
BSC So your journalistic pursuits found their way into your drag routine. How else have those skills or writing more generally found its way into your work?
BIMS I’ve always liked writing in any form. When I was younger I used to love creative writing and I was always told ‘You can’t become a creative writer!’ by my mum, bless her, who wanted me to be a dentist. I think just live and let be, you know? I love the fact that I can make music, and I’m about to launch a podcast about exploring and understanding the little bits that make up a human identity. It’s called ‘The Pieces’ and it’s about the puzzle of people, and exploring all those pieces that make you you. Often when we hear the word ‘identity’ like it’s rooted in just one thing - like the ‘queer identity’. A lot of mainstream people just see it as ‘Oh you identify as this’ – like you’re one note - whereas everyone is made up of different things that make them unique. On the podcast I’ll speak to a spectrum of people so we can get to that nitty gritty and begin understanding the human experience. We’ve all been through shit and we’re here to tell the story. My first guest is Joe Lycett and the second is Jeremy Corbyn. Just expect the unexpected when it comes to the guests because I really want to shake things up.
We all live in this crazy chaotic world where everything is 100 miles per hour, and we don’t often self-reflect. I’ve been a victim of not often looking around and taking a minute to myself. The podcast is about understanding the person that I’m interviewing, but more than that, it’s to get the listener to question their own identity. I’ve always said that my perfection was my imperfection, you know? The things that make me me aren’t the ‘best’ things about myself. I’m doing that a lot more introspecting and understanding that the journey isn’t linear.
BSC What do you do to get yourself in a good headspace or hype yourself up?
BIMS I listen to music! Put on a song, and if you have a certain connection with that song, or it makes you feel something, then just dance around. My blinds are open at the minute, which makes me realise that my neighbours must see some weird shit. I’m always just blasting music and shaking my ass around the kitchen.
BSC What about your own music? You have a new song out,‘Control’.
BIMS I’m putting out [new] songs every six weeks. Over the past four years, I’ve been making music and I’ve hardly got any of it out. There’s been a lot of second guessing by different people around me and we’ve not always seen eye to eye on what I should be putting out. My heart and my blood and my LOVE has always been in pop and dance music, so my music is about bridging the gap between those two. Next year, my favourite song that I’ve written is coming out. It’s been shelved since 2022, but this is a banger!
Talent: Bimini
Photography: Silvia Draz
Photography Assistant: Oduenyi
Styling: Delaney Williams
Styling Assistant: Sammy Steere
Hair: Lauren Bell
Makeup: Byron London
Interview: Camille Bavera
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