Queer icons included Drag racing UK alum Ella Vaday (Nick Colier), former England rugby star and LGBTQ+ ally Ben Cohen, and Princess Diana's former gay butler Paul Burrell, joined the cast of ITV's The real Full Monty: Jingle Balls this week to raise money and awareness for UK cancer charities.
All the stars from the recent ITV event have been affected by cancer in some way over the past year.
"My mother recently had a mastectomy and is still undergoing treatment for breast cancer," Vaday said in an interview with RozeNieuws in 2022. "She was correctly diagnosed in October. She had been concerned about her breasts for a while, but kept it to herself."
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"I think body dysmorphia will always be around," Nick added. "Right now I feel more confident than ever with how I look and how I feel. I think it comes from the fact that I used to sit in a dance studio, stare at myself in the mirror and compare myself to the next guy at the audition. It was fun to talk about those feelings with other people in the room. I feel like we really connected and we were just sitting around with dressing gowns on, completely naked underneath. And I was sitting there with Paul Burrell and Ben Cohen on beanbags, completely naked, like it's normal. It was quite hilarious!" Vaday concluded.
Ella Vaday was joined by other LGBTQ+ icons on the recent ITV Christmas special, including former England rugby star and long-time gay ally Ben Cohen.
Cohen, now 45, retired from the English rugby scene in 2011 but has since continued to advocate for a range of causes, including cancer research and the fight against homophobia and bullying, which he tackled with his now closed charity, the Ben. Cohen StandUp Foundation.
Cohen has been involved in advocacy since he was diagnosed as clinically deaf due to his tinnitus. He has also been active in raising money and awareness for cancer treatment after his ex-wife was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
"So I checked and there were 37,000 members. When I scrolled down I saw that they were all men. Apparently I had become a gay icon!"
While we're sure Cohen's charity work combating homophobia and bullying has something to do with his status as a "gay icon," another likely source comes from Cohen's father, who died in 2000 after suffering fatal injuries while tried to protect a victim of abuse. Eternity Nightclub in Northampton, which he managed.
Cohen said that after his father's death, he connected with his gay fans who were "suffering the same kind of pain and fear" as a result of homophobia.
Fortunately, Burrell is now in remission and is using his platform to help other gay men diagnosed with cancer, like himself, by discussing testing and sex.
Asked if he thought Princess Diana would have accepted his sexuality, Burrell said: "Yes, because she hasn't seen sexuality in anyone. She never saw race in anyone, she never saw color in anyone."
"She saw people, and she saw me as a person, and she said, 'I have the ability to look inside you and see who you are,' and she liked what she saw, and that's why I stayed so long, Burrell concluded, referring to his ten years of service as Diana's personal butler from 1987 until her death in 1997.
Princess Diana was known and loved for her acceptance and celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, especially for opening the first specialist HIV/AIDS unit at London's Middlesex Hospital in 1987.
In addition to Nick Colier (Ella Vaday), Ben Cohen and Paul Burrell, there are other British stars appearing this week The real Full Monty: Jingle Balls Christmas special on ITV included media personality Gemma Collins, The only way is Essex star Pete Wicks, television host Julia Bradbury, singer Colleen Nolan, dancer Ashley Banjo, Coronation Street' s Victoria Ekanoye and German skater Vanessa Bauer.