Bimini became emotional as she opened up about having a substance abuse disorder (Picture: BBC/World of Wonder/Ray Burmiston)
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Bimini has detailed her ongoing battle with a substance abuse disorder that spiralled after the BBC show.
Bimini said she ‘slipped back into a cycle’ after competing on the programme in 2021 as she felt imposter syndrome and did not ‘cope well’ with the pressures of fame.
The 31-year-old, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, said she struggled with addiction on and off in her early 20s and prior to Drag Race UK had been sober, including no alcohol, for a year.
However, after being thrust into the limelight, Bimini said she struggled: ‘I just didn’t cope well and I felt so much pressure, almost like a fraud and I didn’t deserve it.’
She said that was amplified by powerful men in showbusiness who ‘chewed her up and spat her out’ and a loss of credibility in the Drag Race world due to issues with merchandise.
‘People were scammed and I felt so deeply responsible for this. Unfortunately, it all caught up on me and then since then it has been a battle for the last three and a half years,’ Bimini said in an emotional episode of her podcast The Pieces.
Bimini said she didn’t feel like she ‘deserved’ success after Drag Race UK (Picture: BBC/World of Wonder/Guy Levy)
Bimini said she first struggled with addiction in her early 20s (Picture: James Veysey/Shutterstock)
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She added: ‘There were times when I didn’t know what I should be doing for myself and sometimes I think that made me look like I felt like I was maybe better than Drag Race, but it’s not the truth. I’m so grateful for Drag Race and everything that I got from Drag Race. I loved it. I watched that show all of the time.
‘There was a lot of gossip within the community about what I was going through and my troubles with addiction and my troubles with drugs and they were from friends that I felt really hurt by.
‘I’m not saying that they’re to blame. I don’t think I was ready to admit things that at the time anyway. I came up through the scene where there is a lot of alcohol. There is a lot of drugs. The community really does struggle with it. But I have decided that enough is enough and I can’t continue anymore.’
Bimini said she had resolved to ‘let go of the pain and trauma’ and stop blaming herself to help break the cycle of addiction. ‘And the only way to do that is to admit that I have a problem. And there’s power there,’ she added.
She said after Drag Race her addiction spiralled as she struggled to cope with fame (Picture: BBC/World of Wonder/Guy Levy)
Bimini said she had difficulties with powerful men in the industry which left her in a dark place (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Youth To The People)
The performer said: ‘I have a substance abuse disorder and this is something that is ongoing and something that I am trying my hardest battle with and deal with. I will get there, and I know I will.
‘I can’t keep continuing that cycle, and that pattern, and it needs to break. And the only way to do that is to admit that I have a problem. And there’s power there.’
Bimini said she was now ‘in a stronger place’ otherwise she would not be discussing her substance abuse disorder so frankly and wants to return to being ‘happy and positive boss bitch.’
She continued: ‘I know the journey is going to be difficult to get there. I can’t say right now I’m free from addiction.
Bimini said she wants to ‘break the cycle’ by ‘admitting she has a problem’ (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for David Koma)
‘Addiction is a disease that is always going to be within me, but I’m going to be doing my best to change that. I’m ready to love myself.’
Bimini first won the hearts of the nation on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series 2, gaining a legion of fans thanks to their stellar runways (which began with a memorable tribute to Norwich City Football Club), their unforgettable Katie Price Snatch Game and a verse on the earworm UK Hun that’s only gone and earnt a Bafta nod.
After placing as a runner-up on the BBC show,Bimini made their London Fashion Week runway debut, embarked on a sold-out UK tour alongside A’Whora, Tayce and Lawrence Chaney, wrote a book and released an EP.
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