Drag Race UK season 6 star, Kyran Thrax opened up about his experience with being groomed by an adult at a young age.
During an candid conversation in the werkroom, La Voix asked Kyran where his confidence comes from. Kyran revealed that it took a long time for him to feel confident after meeting an older man through Facebook and being groomed by that person.
“When I was younger, I came out as gay at 13. I felt I was ready for a relationship, which is insane, and it left me very vulnerable,” they said.
“Being online was escapism I guess and there was a man who added me as a friend and we were speaking. He told me he was 19 but he was actually 23,” they continued, choking up and beginning to cry.
After Kyran discovered his real age, he reported him to the police, and he was later convicted and sentenced to prison.
"He abused me for a very long time," Kyran recalled in the episode. "I kept it a secret from my mum because I knew, deep down, it was wrong."
La Voix comforted her co-star by holding Kyran’s hand and rubbing their arm.
“In my brain, it was so crazy because I was telling myself: ‘Yeah, maybe he is a predator, maybe he is a paedophile, but maybe I’m the one he’s actually in love with’.
“I gave him everything – my innocence, my childhood. I’m so angry that he robbed that from me.”
In the end, Kyran says it was their mother who helped him through this time. He describes his mother telling him to say “I love you” to himself each morning.
“I did it every day before school [but] I didn’t believe it and I hated it. Then I slowly started to believe it, and that’s where this confidence comes from,” they continued.
After hearing of Kyran’s experience, La Voix said “To be that rock bottom but to build yourself up, you have every right to walk in that werk room and be like, ‘I’m bloody confident and I’m good and amazing’. You are.”
Viewers agree with La Voix and according to Kyran have been reaching out to praise the young drag star.
"There's been thousands of messages of people thanking me, people saying that they feel seen. Parents have reached out, saying that they've watched it with their children. It's been amazing because it's a scary thing to talk about and to open up about on television. You're never really sure what the response is going to be," said Thrax in an interview with Attitude UK.
"I'm appreciative for everybody that's been reaching out, for being able to chat about this, and for having the opportunity to tell my story on Drag Race. It was told in such an amazing and delicate way, and I'm just so grateful."
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