Dancing With The Stars' Blu Hydrangea has shared how they came out as gay to their parents as a teenager, crediting a lovebite for opening up the conversation.
Recalling when they were 18 and coming home with a mark on their neck one night, they said their mother queried who gave it to them.
"I used to just say that it was my friend, a girl that she knew," they said.
"[But this time] I said, 'What if it wasn't her?’ and she was like, ‘Then who would it be?’ and I said, ‘A boy’, and she was fine."
However, his mother told them to, "Keep this under wraps with your dad for a wee while."
The Ru Paul’s Drag Race winner said it was when things became serious with their partner - and now fiancé - Johnson Orr that they decided to be honest with their father.
"We got quite serious and I decided to tell my dad," they said, laughing as they revealed that their father had some choice language about their partner upon first hearing the news.
"But yes, he now loves my partner and they both do - they see how emotionally connected we are, how much he does for me and they just want me to be happy and safe and healthy, and that's exactly what my partner’s helped me do."
The next step for the Northern Irelander was to tell their parents of their love of performing drag. "I remember my dad saying, ‘As long as you're making money, as long as you look good, that's dead on.’ And right enough I was!"
"They're my biggest supporters now for sure. And it's crazy just how far they've come from when I was a kid - they used to be telling me to be on the more conservative side."
"I remember my parents being like, ‘You can't bring home anyone that's a man or anyone that's a different religion than you’. It used to be a joke that my dad would say.
"I've broadened their horizons for sure. I mean, when I first came out as gay, it did take them aback, more so I believe because they were just scared for what life could be like for me as a queer person in Northern Ireland."
Blu, whose real name is Joshua Cargill, believes their audience has widened since appearing on Dancing With The Stars, and says that they are "overwhelmed" with the support.
"I'm used to being in places that kind of serve to the LGBTQ+ community, like Drag Race and in queer bars and stuff like that, that's where I would be safe, like in this kind of queer bubble," they said.
"But since being on this show, the people who have stopped me and said, ‘You're doing great’ are people who are of an older generation who I didn't think that I really had in my audience before, and probably didn't."
Blu recalls one touching moment in Newry, when out for dinner with partner Johnson. "There was a little old lady who came up and said: ‘I recognized you as soon as you came in. I loved you doing Barbie, and I hope you win!’
"I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is crazy...’ I hope my work speaks for itself because I didn't know if people would get behind me. But yeah, people are, and I really appreciate it. It's so overwhelming. I can't believe it still sometimes."
Part of Blu's reason for doing the show was to challenge misconceptions about LGBTQ+ people and drag artists – a goal they believe they are achieving.
"It's lovely because [the support] means that what I'm doing is working - like me being on TV every week visibly and queer is not offending these people or making them feel like I'm a menace to society.
"They're seeing I'm just a person living my life and drag is my creative outlet to do that. And I think that that's really nnice and exactly why I'm doing the show."
Blu said that they "fully hit a wall" this week due to suffering from scarlet fever.
"I was really sick on Sunday [before last week's show] - like fever, waking up in a ball of sweat," they said but stated firmly that pulling out of last week’s show was something they wouldn’t consider.
They are ready to rock once again this weekend though, and said viewers can expect a "powerful" and "hard-hitting" dance, as well as a "stripped-back version" of the Blu that we’re used to.
"It's a Viennese Waltz to Lose Control by Teddy Swims. It's a little bit depressing this song," they said. "[Pro partner] Simone sat me down and he made me watch an interview with Teddy Swims about what the song means to him, and it was all about drug addiction.
"And he said, ‘Do you relate to any of that?’ at I said, ‘No - he just spoke about drug addiction for two minutes - of course I don't!’
"But we've been able to spin the meaning of the song to something personal to me and hopefully it helps people.
"It's about me having so much control and power as Blu, and then losing part of that whenever I become Josh. Basically, throughout the dance, it will be me trying to regain my power.
"It's going to be a very stripped-back version of Blu and something that you haven't seen quite yet."
Post-DWTS, Blu plans to turn their attention to matters of a more personal nature – renovating the cottage that they and fiancé Johnson bought last December, with Johnson proposing to Blu on the day they got the keys.
"It's a little cottage, so cute," they said. "That's my plan for the rest of 2024 after I've finished here - I'm gonna renovate this cottage to make it like the gayest little college you've ever seen!"
Wedding plans have not yet kicked into gear but Blu says that they want a "bouncing castle, a rodeo bull and a paint gun" at the nuptials, whenever they take place.
Dancing With The Stars, Sundays, 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
