On Friday, Betty Legs Diamond will begin her run playing Polly La Plonk in the Blackpool Grand Theatre pantomime Beauty and the Beast, which is open until Sunday 4th January, and Betty will be in the cast with Steve Royle as Louis La Plonk, Kitty Harris as Belle and Marc Baylis as Hugo Pompidou, and Beauty and the Beast marks Betty’s Blackpool Grand Theatre pantomime debut. Recently, Betty has been performing her show Nauti-Gal at The Showboat in Blackpool, having previously performed her show Hallow-Queen, and for almost 30 years, she has been a performer at Funny Girls – Blackpool’s leading drag show bar, which has seen her perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Queen Elizabeth II. Betty appeared in the Jamie Campbell documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, and Betty Legs Diamond inspired the character of Loco Chanelle in the hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. We chatted to Betty about opening this Friday in Beauty and the Beast at Blackpool Grand Theatre playing Polly La Plonk, recently performing her show Nauti-Gal at The Showboat in Blackpool, being a performer at Blackpool’s leading drag show bar Funny Girls for almost 30 years and inspiring the character of Loco Chanelle in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

This Christmas, you are making your Blackpool Grand Theatre pantomime debut when you start your role of Polly La Plonk in Beauty and the Beast, what are you looking forward to for opening in the show and playing a pantomime dame in Blackpool?

Oh, all the mischief and mayhem that comes along with the character! I’m really looking forward to that and meeting the audience.

What do you think Polly La Plonk will be like to play and what will you bring to the character?

I think she’s sort of the matriarch of the whole team and keeps them all in check, and that’s what I’m really looking forward to… and showing off!

How will you prepare for opening on Friday 5th December and what was it like meeting the cast (which includes Steve Royle as Louis La Plonk, Kitty Harris as Belle and Marc Baylis as Hugo Pompidou)?

The opening routine is a routine I’ve done for many years actually, so I know it all inside out, so it’s going to be great and I won’t have to stress too much. As for meeting the team, I loved it. They’re all just so friendly, nice and funny, and you couldn’t ask for anything more really. It’s a sort of perfect combination – the perfect ingredients, let’s say, for a panto cake.

Have you performed in a production of Beauty and the Beast previously, and how was it reading Jon Monie’s script for the first time?

Yes, I did Beauty and the Beast a couple of years ago with Pleasure Beach.

Jon’s script is just so funny. It’s brilliantly put together – I loved it. It’s going to be a dream to play, to be honest.

Was there anything that drew you to the family pantomime at Blackpool Grand Theatre this Christmas?

I’ve only done a few pantos and I absolutely love it – being mischievous and making the kids laugh and things like that. But I’ve never really got to do it because I’ve always been at Funny Girls or in a show or something, so that’s good in a way because I’ve been lucky. I think I’m at that age now where I can relax and have a great time, so it’s a dream come true.

You recently performed your new show Nauti-Gal weekly at The Showboat in Blackpool, can you tell us about this?

Yes, I’ve recently finished Nauti-Gal, and I also did Hallow-Queen. They’ve all been really good and very successful. I talk a lot about my career, and there are lots of slides and video footage of people I’ve met and funny stories. It’s been wonderful. It’s more about me rather than me showing up at Funny Girls, so it’s been great fun.

For almost 30 years, you were a performer at Funny Girls – Blackpool’s leading drag show bar, what are some of your favourite memories from working at the bar over the years, which has also seen you perform at the Royal Variety Performance?

I think, to begin with, it was a complete surprise back in 1994 of how well it was accepted. It’s this melting pot of all these individual, unique and strange people that came together and produced some magic and it just carried on going. I’ve done hundreds of routines and different shows there.

I did Swine Lake at the Royal Variety for the late Her Majesty the Queen and Philip, and the year before that we did the Coliseum in London with Our Favourite Songs, so we did two Royal Varieties on the trot. The highlight was meeting the Queen, to be honest. I think, for every performer, their crowning glory would be to meet the Queen or be knighted, just like Sir David has been.

What was it like filming Jamie Campbell’s documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16 and seeing his story inspire the hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (and your involvement inspire the character of Hugo / Loco Chanelle)?

I thought it was just another one of these lovely television programmes they asked me to do and I agreed to it. I thought he was a strange boy at first, but then I got him. It wasn’t just about him wanting to dress up as a girl, he wanted to do something that was all about him and not follow the usual crowd like a sheep at school.

I didn’t think it would work, but then all the students said they’d boycott the prom if he didn’t come dressed up, including some of the bullies and boys that he was with, so it was a real surprise for me.

When I heard they created a musical of it and they based one of the characters, Loco Chanelle, on my character, I was absolutely thrilled. But I wasn’t thrilled when they didn’t ask me to do the film!

Do you have any stand-out highlights from your career as Betty Legs Diamond so far that you can share?

I met Bea Arthur from The Golden Girls at a memorial for Les Dawson, and she said, “my God, you remind me of Chita Rivera”. I had a photograph taken with her and in turn, I got a letter and a signed photo from Chita, and that was just in a couple of weeks and big stars don’t usually do that. I was absolutely thrilled!

Jane Russell was another stand-out for me. Not many people will know who she is anymore, but she worked with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She has some fascinating stories about Marilyn.

All the usual – Chita, Liza (Minnelli)… all gay icons – wonderful women!

Dawn French I love as well. I’ve met Dawn quite a few times and we nick moves off each other!

We understand you started your career in theatre in shows such as 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Anything Goes and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, can you tell us about how your theatre career tracked alongside your emerging career in drag?

I was working on On Your Toes at the Palace Theatre in London, and just before I got promoted to lead tap dancer, Nick Garrison said to go down and watch a drag act called Lily Savage. They said I could do that too because I’m always messing around in the dressing room – dressing up and making people laugh.

So, I did one day and I took the place by storm. You think I’m flexible now? When I was 20, I could put my legs in different time zones!

It was absolutely incredible and it sort of really took off side by side. I was going through the West End while still doing Betty, and La Cage and things like that sort of helped along the way. Even though I was working as a lad first in the West End, they then sort of morphed together when I did La Cage, which was fun.

Do you have a favourite aspect of performing as Betty Legs Diamond?

I like to make people laugh and I like to show off. If I can do both of those within a show, it’s wonderful. Making people laugh is the greatest gift and it doesn’t cost anything and you get a lot back from it. It’s a great thing to do. I love doing that.

What are some of your favourite theatre shows to watch?

I’ve seen so many! I remember going to Broadway for the first time and seeing shows there and being knocked out.

One Christmas, I went to see The Rockettes (the Radio City musical), and watching about 50 dancers all kicking at the same time, coming straight at you on a moving platform, just blew me away. I was so impressed.

I try to get back to New York quite a lot.

I think one of the highlights for me was watching Patti LuPone in Gypsy. I think she is brilliant. I saw Bernadette Peters in Gypsy as well.

Of course, Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria blew me away. Incredible. That’s when she could sing but unfortunately what happened to her voice was too much show work.

Going to New York and seeing all those fantastic Broadway productions really gave me a thrill.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I’ve got two fabulous little mischievous French bulldogs, and they keep me very grounded. I like to walk them on the beach. I love to enjoy nature, walking, birdwatching… things like that. I love my garden and gardening.

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