Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard on new show: ‘I used to pretend I was Davina McCall’

Danny Beard on life since winning Drag Race UK and making their childhood dream of hosting a TV show a reality.

Since winning RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series four, Danny Beard has barely had a day off.

“I just wanted to sit around the house all day wearing the crown,” Danny, who uses they/them pronouns, tells BBC Three.

“But from the screening where I was crowned the winner, I went straight to a gig. That night, I didn’t even go to bed, I jumped straight on a flight and went to another show.”

Danny’s schedule has remained similarly relentless ever since. “I’ve done the Edinburgh Fringe in one of the main venues there. I’ve toured with my own live band. I’ve headlined Prides across the world. It’s just been non-stop. I still feel lucky every day.”

Alongside Danny’s touring schedule, the performer also ventured into podcasting, releasing Danny Beard On Same Sex Love and Marriage, a BBC podcast series speaking to LGBTQ+ couples about their relationships.

Now, Danny is hosting a brand new TV show – a lifelong dream for the self-described “TV obsessive”.

The After Shave with Danny Beard is a sister show to RuPaul's Drag Race UK, where the former winner will recap the week’s drama before interviewing the latest queen to leave the competition in a series of exclusive interviews. They will also be joined by drag icons from series past like RuPaul's Drag Race vs The World winner Blu Hydrangea and series four runner-up Cheddar Gorgeous.

Being a TV presenter was a childhood dream for Danny. “Every Christmas, there would be a performance of Santa Claus Stuck Up the Chimney. I would rally all the other kids and make them be my minions and do all sorts. I used to pretend I was Davina McCall in Big Brother presenting it.”

And Danny’s obsession with TV continues to this day. “I’m a massive telly nerd. When I watch it, I pick up continuity things or little errors that other people don’t pick up on.”

READ MORE: Danny Beard on winning Drag Race UK: 'The hard work is only just beginning'

And Danny has picked up inspiration for their own presenting persona.

“I feel like I’m a mix of Alan Carr, Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond. I’m just like them but fat and Scouse,” Danny jokes.

After spending so long dreaming about being on TV, Danny had an idea for After Shave ready as soon as they were announced the winner of Drag Race UK. “My pitch was Big Brother’s Bit on the Side meets Love Island: After Sun, but with a camp drag twist.

“The idea is that it’s a barber shop, which I host the whole thing from. We recap the episode and then at the end, I have the first official interview with that week's eliminated queen that is done, before they step back into the real world, on the set of Drag Race.”

Right from the start of their pitch, Danny wanted to appear on the show both in and out of drag. “I think the whole point of the [Drag Race UK] winner's show should be to launch you into the career that you want.

“What I want from the show is something different from the other girls. Hopefully people will see this and go, ‘Danny beard is a TV presenter, not just a drag queen, or not just a cabaret artist.’”

None of this planning, however, stopped Danny’s first day of filming After Shave feeling “so, so surreal”.

"I was nervous," Danny adds, "but I was excited, and I just jumped right in.

“Seeing my name and the big neon lights just felt right,” Danny says. “I was nervous, but I felt really prepared for it.

“The first couple of days was just interviewing the girls. And it was just magical. The girls were excited to see someone who had been through the experience. I brought a lot out of the girls, especially the ones that left earlier in the season.”

The After Shave with Danny Beard starts Thursday 28 September at 10:15pm after the first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series five.