Blu Hydrangea
Hydrangea in 2022
Born
Joshua Cargill

(1996-02-15) 15 February 1996 (age 27)
Belfast, United Kingdom[1]
OccupationDrag queen
TelevisionRuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 1)
RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World (series 1)
Websitewww.bluhydrangea.com

Blu Hydrangea is the stage name of Joshua Cargill (born 15 February 1996), a Northern Irish drag queen from Belfast who is known for competing on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK (2019) and later winning the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World (2022).

Career

Blu Hydrangea was announced as part of the cast of the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK on 21 September 2019 and subsequently finishing in fifth place on the series, being eliminated in the "Thirsty Work" episode, losing the lip sync to fellow contestant Cheryl Hole.

Outside of Drag Race, Blu Hydrangea is a well-known make-up queen, part of a band called the Frock Destroyers (with Baga Chipz and Divina de Campo). They also host the BBC web series Strictly Frocked Up, a weekly web series where they and another drag queen watch and review each episode of Strictly Come Dancing.

In January 2022, they were announced as one of the nine contestants on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World.[2] On 8 March 2022, Blu Hydrangea was announced as the winner of the series, becoming the first Northern Irish queen to win across the franchise.[3] In December 2023, they were announced as apart of the cast of the seventh season of the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars, premiering in January 2024.[4]

Personal life

Cargill grew up in Royal Hillsborough but later moved to live in Belfast.[5][6] They confirmed in a March 2022 interview that they identify as non-binary.[7] They have dated Johnson Orr since 2014.[8]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2019 RuPaul's Drag Race UK Herself Contestant (5th Place); Series 1
2021–22 Stitch, Please![9] Herself Host
2021 Be Here, Be Queer Herself Netflix special[10]
2022 RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World Herself Contestant (Winner)
Queens for the Night Mentor One-off special[11]
2023 RuPaul's Drag Race UK Herself Special guest; Series 5
2024 Dancing with the Stars Herself Contestant[4]
Celeb Cooking School Herself Contestant (Winner)

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2020 God Shave the Queens Herself Produced by World of Wonder[12]
Strictly Frocked Up Herself (Host) BBC iPlayer
The X Change Rate Herself Produced by BUILD Series[13]
Strictly Frocked Up! Herself Produced by BBC Three[14]
Cosmo Queens UK Herself Produced by Cosmopolitan UK[15]
2021 I Like to Watch UK Herself Produced by Netflix[16]
2022 Frockumentary Herself WOWPresents+ Original[17]
EW News Flash Herself Produced by Entertainment Weekly[18]
Drag Us Weekly Herself Produced by Us Weekly[19]
Bestie Test Herself With Cheryl Hole, Produced by Glamour Magazine UK [20]
Bring Back My Girls Herself Produced by World of Wonder[21]
2023 Binge Queens: UK5 Herself (Host) With Cheryl Hole, Produced by World of Wonder[22]

Music videos

Year Title Artist Ref.
2020 "Always" Waze & Odyssey [23]
2020 "Her Majesty" Frock Destroyers (Herself, Baga Chipz & Divina de Campo) [24]
2021 "My House" Jodie Harsh [25]

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

Year Song Album
2022 "Champion (Ru x Blu)"
(with RuPaul) 		Non-album single

As featured artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[26] 		US
Elec.
[27]
"Break Up (Bye Bye)"[28]

(RuPaul featuring the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, season 1)

2019 35 45 Non-album single
"Living My Life in London" (Cast Version)
(RuPaul featuring the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs. The World, season 1)[29] 		2022 – –

With the Frock Destroyers

Main article: Frock Destroyers § Discography

References

  1. ^ "Who is Blu Hydrangea? Meet the RuPaul's Drag Race UK queen and make-up expert". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  2. ^ Nolfi, Joey (17 January 2022). "RuPaul's Drag Race UK Versus the World cast adds international all-stars to new competition". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  3. ^ March 08, Joey Nolfi; EST, 2022 at 05:10 PM. "The winner of 'RuPaul's Drag Race UK Versus the World' is..." EW.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b McCarthy, James Martin (December 2023). "Blu Hydrangea to compete on RTÉ's Dancing With The Stars following appearance on The Late Late Show". belfastlive.co.uk. MGN Limited. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Watch: Belfast's Blu Hydrangea wears Harland & Wolff costume in Drag Race UK debut". Belfasttelegraph. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Belfast's Blu Hydrangea competing in RuPaul's Drag Race UK". 21 August 2019. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Drag Race's Blu Hydrangea Defends Baga Chipz on UK vs the World | Drag Race Yearbook - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. ^ @bluhydrangea (2 September 2023). "9 YEARS! ✨" – via Instagram.
  9. ^ Darvill, Josh (25 June 2021). "RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Blu Hydrangea to front a new BBC Three sewing show". Telly Mix. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Drag Race UK's The Vivienne, Tia Kofi and more discuss drag in the UK in new Netflix film". Attitude.co.uk. 30 December 2021. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  11. ^ Robledo, Jordan (8 June 2022). "Drag Race UK stars Blu Hydrangea and Asttina Mandella join ITV special Queens For The Night". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  12. ^ Barraclough, Leo. "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Producers Greenlight Two Docu-Series for SVOD (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  13. ^ "The X Change Rate: Karine Jean Pierre & Blu Hydrangea". YouTube. 15 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  14. ^ "BLU'S TOP 10 ICONIC BEST BITS | Strictly Frocked Up!". YouTube. 28 December 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Blu Hydrangea's ice queen makeup transformation is mesmerising | Cosmo Queens UK". YouTube. 24 December 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Drag Queens React To Horror Movie Bird Box - Tia Kofi, Blu Hydrangea, Cheryl Hole & more | Netflix". YouTube. 31 December 2021. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  17. ^ Anderton, Joe (14 March 2022). "New Drag Race spinoffs revealed in exclusive WOW Presents trailer". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Blu Hydrangea Drops a 'Drag Race UK Vs the World' Pangina Bombshell | Entertainment Weekly". YouTube. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  19. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race Baga Chipz & Blu Hydrangea Talk Frock Destroyers". YouTube. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Bestie Test with Drag Race UK's Cheryl Hole and Blu Hydrangea". YouTube. 22 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  21. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs. the World".
  22. ^ "Binge Queens - RuPaul's Drag Race UK Series 5, Meet The Queens". YouTube. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  23. ^ George Michael (21 May 2020), Always (Drag Stars Official Video)), archived from the original on 22 May 2020, retrieved 21 May 2020
  24. ^ Frock Destroyers (4 December 2020), Her Majesty, archived from the original on 5 December 2020, retrieved 4 December 2020
  25. ^ Jodie Harsh (5 March 2021), Jodie Harsh - My House (Official Video), archived from the original on 12 March 2021, retrieved 21 March 2021
  26. ^ "CAST OF RUPAUL's DRAG RACE UK | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  27. ^ "EDM Music & Dance Songs Chart - November 16, 2019". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  28. ^ "Drag Race UK's girl group episode was the best in years, including America". 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  29. ^ Benutty, John (1 March 2022). "'RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs. The World' episode 5 recap: Final 5 add hometown verses to 'Living My Life in London'". Gold Derby. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blu Hydrangea.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK
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