Louie Westwood (Kitty Scott-Claus) | Extraordinary Life Stories

0:13Louis, thank you for joining me. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Me too. Tell me, who is Louis Westwood? That is like the biggest question in the world. Also, right, here's the thing. I have about a million names and it gets so confusing. So Louis Westwood is my stage name, was my stage name. I don't use it anymore because I'm not like a musical theatre actor. I went to drama school and my real name, my birth name is Louis Sanders. And everyone always called me Louis. So I was going to change it to Louis Sanders when I left drama school. for equity to be an actor. And also because I thought it sounded better because I was like, too many S's.

0:50Anyway, that's really boring. But Lou Sanders had gone. So I couldn't have Louie Sanders. So they were like, you need to go for another name. So I went for Louie Westwood. Westwood's my mum's maiden name. So names are chosen through family connections. Yeah, it was always like... Things that meant something to you. Yeah, definitely. So I was Louie Westwood and then obviously started doing drag. And then when you do drag, it's like, what's your name? And it's like, oh my God. So tell me how you came up with your drag name. That's interesting, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know what? I was one of those people where it was like, I would come up with drag names.

1:19I wasn't even a drag queen at the time. I'd be like, my drag name is going to be Madonna Kebab. And I would come up with like, I was going to be Chelsea Bun. I was going to be Burger Queen. What else was I going to be? But I was at a party. I was at a house party. And I said something a little bit catty, a little bit bitchy. And I used to find it really funny. Like if you said something like that, you'd go like, oh, meow, saucer of milk. And then my friend was like, yeah, this kitty's got claws. and then as soon as I heard it, I was like, Clicked. That's my drag name. And I was not a drag queen at the time.

1:48I was like, when I do though, when the opportunity arises, and literally like, it was like six months later, my friend was like, do you want to be part of this Girls Aloud tribute band? And I was like, yes, I do. And my drag name is Kitty Scott Claus. So you were prepared. You manifested that way. I know, literally. So all these bouncing off these names and people going, nope, nope, and then Kitty Sticks, right? There we go. That's the way it is. So where did the desire to be a drag come from? Where's that influence? Growing up, I was always like, I want to do musical theatre. Musical theatre is my dream.

2:16And I loved, loved, loved musical theatre. Looking at it now from like a different set of eyes and a set of experiences. It's like, it's so funny, like, because growing up, I only ever wanted to play the girl parts. When I went to drama school, they would be like, what part do you want to play in the West End right now? And I'd be like, I would be a brilliant Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Or I would be a brilliant Glinda. Or I could do Roxy Hart in Chicago. and they were like, that's not going to happen though. Like you're a boy, so you need to think of what boy parts you're going to play. And I was like, oh, but they don't have nice costumes.

2:49They don't have nice wigs. They don't get good, like funny songs. They don't get camp moments. I was like, I want to be like the girl parts. Did you did you fight it as well? Yeah, because other boys could have been like, oh, that's what I need to do. I need to conform. And the one thing that's so clear about you is you've not know you. So that was from a young age because I wanted to get to you. So you resisted archaic kind of views and went, I'm doing it my way. And I remember going to drama school, I walked into my first singing lesson and walked in and I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, I'd just moved down from Birmingham and I was like, oh my God, I'm so excited.

3:21How old are you at this point? I was 18, so when I went to drama school, walked in and I was like, oh my God, hello, I'm Louis, nice to meet you. And the singing teacher, I remember they were like, you need to stop, you need to turn around, you need to go out the door, you need to come back again and do that as a man. And I remember just being like, oh, okay. And it takes you back. I remember just being like, oh, I was just being myself. and I just thought, okay, like, we're not acting now, you know, like, whatever. So I remember, like, having to go out and, like, come back in and thinking, like, I remember, it would have been so bad as well.

3:51I would have been like, hello, I'm Louis and I'm here to do some singing. Like, putting on, like, a deep mask voice and it's like, well, that's not me. That's not authentic. That is not what I do. And I remember being at drama school, I was at drama school for three years. there came a point in my third year they were holding auditions for Elaine Page was doing this like musical TV program and Glee was very big at the time and I remember there was a boy on Glee who used to sing girl songs and I remember thinking like I could do that like I could do that and I would like kill it and I remember like think like having this in the back of my head and just like having years of drama school being like you need to be a boy you need to be a man you need to because you're so put into a box in a drama school situation and you're so especially in like musical theatre it's like if you want to work you have to conform to...

4:44Isn't that a shame though because that's creativity. It all stimulates from that and yet they're trying to put them in a box surely the most amazing creativity comes from no boundaries, no walls. Well you'd think, I don't know, I think I was at drama school like 2011 to 2014 I think it was and so it's like, going to drama school, I was talking to my manager Molly about it, I was like, I feel like drama school was like stuck in the 90s and it was stuck with that mentality of like, well, if you want to work, you've got to be slim and you've got to be slender and you've got to be tanned and this, that, the other and like, they do so much to break you down as an individual, it's like no makeup, no hair dye, you have to have like a natural hair colour, it's like no, nothing that will add to the mask that is you they want to strip you back and then I remember doing all that and just still thinking like I could have a bit of concealer on like no one would know I could have a nude set of acrylics has that changed though like oh my god cool and when and you've obviously lived through this period right yeah I'm walking to him being told to go back out and come back a different person you're like that's me yeah so what have you noticed from your own personal perspective of how things have changed because I feel like there's a real embracing of people being their authentic self right?

5:56Yeah I think it's so important I think you have to be. Like when I was in my third year of college I was doing auditions for this Elaine Page show and they were like you need to sing these the boys songs these are the girls songs and I was like I'm gonna sing a girls song and I was like because it's for TV they'll love that there's a storyline in that TV producer brain on already and the head of dance took me into her office and she was like you categorically cannot do this this you will be like a laughingstock you will never work if you do this and I remember thinking like oh my god like so what did you do I did a boy song so you conformed I conformed but I remember like going out and then like leaving drama school and then being like you will only work if you do the fat funny friend and if you do this part and if you sing this song so it pigeonholed you totally totally and I remember like my first job I booked I booked by singing from a chorus line which is a girl song it's like I remember just being like, oh, so they don't know everything.

6:52That's not the be all and end all. And if I, like for me to get ahead, I've just sang a girl's song. Well, it's clearly not making me not work, you know. So I remember like little things like that would happen. I would be like, oh, okay. These knocks that you've taken and these pushbacks, resistance, if you like, you've clearly then gone into a place where you've smashed those doors down and been able to be you, the person you want to be, right? Tell me about the journey there. Were there some dark times, some loneliness where you felt isolated? You can't be yourself, right? If we can't be ourselves, we can't be true to our purpose, our passion.

7:27Did you have some dark times? Oh my God, completely. I think leaving drama school and becoming an adult and a musical theatre performer, you definitely think there's so many knockbacks and there's so many rejections. Everyone says you get used to it, you get used to the rejection. It's like you are also a human being at the end of the day. And it's like there's no other job in the world where you would go and queue outside for three hours to then come in, sing 16 bars and then be told like, no, that's enough for today. And you poured your heart out into that as well, right? And it's like, I remember like doing auditions and being like, I got a recall once because I was blonde.

7:59And it was like, how does this make sense? Like none of this makes sense. It's very shallow. So shallow. Are you a better version of Louis now because of the rejection? Yeah. Do you feel that? Yeah. I mean, I don't think I would be here without like. Because it's built your resilience and it's probably made you want, at a certain point, almost like a cork in the bottle. There must have been a little bit like, I'm having it. Totally. So tell me about that bit. So when did you get that moment really to feel like you expressed yourself in the way that you best are, if you like? I think when the opportunity arose for me to start doing drag, that's when I was just like, oh my God, I can't take it anymore.

8:33I got to the point with musical theatre where it was like, you get told to stand in this position, under this light, wear this costume, have your hair this way. Everything is so controlled and there's no authenticity about it. There's no spontaneity. And I also think I'm too naughty as a person to do musical theatre because I do musical theatre jobs now and I'm like, day one, I'm like, how can I mess around? How can I make people laugh? And it's like, oh my God. But isn't that what the audience is craving? That's what I'm saying. I'm enjoying this now as natural. I'd be there like, I'm watching for them to crack.

9:07I'm there like, go on, watch. I don't know what you're going to do next. That's great. Don't get me wrong. Of course, there needs to be some choreography and script. Totally. But if you can allow people to be themselves, which is, again, going back to what is consuming us all now as social media. If you're not in the theater and you're not being entertained in the way that you would like to, then you are consuming. You're hunting out people that entertain you through being themselves rather than all polished and manicured and the lighting and stand here and so on. Social media is only like what you see on social media is only...

9:34I remember looking at my Instagram, you go through it and it's like, oh my God, they're doing incredible things. That's amazing. And it's like, you forget because it's only the very polished version of yourself that you put out there. You publish for the world to see. You want to put your best foot forward. You want people to think like, wow, goals, absolute goals, like looking at them and their lives. And it's like, they could be really lonely and you wouldn't know. No. I know. It's a powerful message here because there's a lot of people that are locked up. Yeah. Locked up with their emotions and not living, again, that purpose, that passion.

10:06Yeah. And yet you've allowed yourself to get boxed before. You've taken those hits. Totally. But you've probably not changed. You've had a North Star that you're still aiming for. Yeah. What advice would you give to people, whether they're young or old, that could be young, aspirational people that feel like they can't express themselves. or it could be people that have, and it's really sad to say it, could be well into adulthood and are now listening to you or watching going, oh my god, I just want to let myself out. But they won't because they're a fear of judgement. Fear of rejection. And rejection.

10:36Yeah. What's your advice there? I think the biggest piece of advice I ever got was to never be a Diet Coke version of yourself. You want to go into things and you want to be a full fat version. Like, why would you go into a situation and it's like if you go on a first date, You don't go in like watering yourself down and it's like, okay, I know I do this and I know that's not an attractive quality. So I'm going to bring that back and I'm going to hold myself back. And it's like, they're going to catch you out eventually. They're going to see. Like if you go on a second date, you're probably going to slip up.

11:03And then they'll be like, who's this? Who's this guy? Like what's with the accent you were putting on, you know? And it's like, you need to go into it authentically and embracing who you are because that's your superpower. I think like individuality and like growing up for me, I was obsessed. so so obsessed with the Spice Girls and what I love the most about them is that they were all so individual but yet they were so like unified and so like strong as a group and until Jerry left but whatever I bet it was a heartbreaking moment for you oh my god I felt it then hell I'll never get over it Jerry um but no like it's what I loved and what drew me to the Spice Girls is it was like you can see aspects of yourself in each of the five of them and it's like you like it's it's I mean amazing marketing brilliant marketing but it's like for a young queer boy looking at these like five women who are all so different it's like you see yourself in it and it's like seeing that it's like I see myself and I see like oh my god I want to do that and it's like anything is possible so you saw yourself in the Spice Girls yeah and they were role models for you what about you now being a role model for a young queer boy do you do you embrace that do you feel that and do you have experience of people almost outpouring to you?

12:20Because that must be super fulfilling for you. Oh my God, it's wild. And again, not being alone anymore. You've got these people that are potentially alone in their world and they see Louis being who he wants to be and wearing the multi names at the beginning. There are lots of different names you can be and flourishing. Totally. I mean, we're so lucky enough to be able to do RuPaul's DragCon, which happens in January every year, and we get to meet everyone. and it's incredible and you meet like like the grannies and the granddads and the aunties and the uncles and you meet like children and it's like you meet people from like all facets of life and like people that you would not think like oh they watch drag race they love drag race and it's like again like the Spice Girls were for me it's like people watch RuPaul's Drag Race and they have their queens that they relate to and they they like they understand they see themselves in and And it's like, you meet so many people.

13:10And it's like, for me, meeting like young queer fans is incredible because it's like, oh my God, like the fact that like, I wish I saw someone like myself on TV growing up. That's why I was, yeah, that's why you're so important as a role model, right? And it's like, oh my God, if I can do this, just think like what they can do. And it's like, like, this is only the beginning, you know? Like, if the Spice Girls led me to here, I can lead someone somewhere else, you know it's like yeah i love that the world's your oyster so when you are in full drag as kitty scott clause is that like the only thing i can relate to is as a youngster putting on a cowboy hat and being a cowboy running around with a a cap gun and feeling like the cowboy want to be yeah someone dressing up as james bond and that night being james bond and then you come back to being louis yeah do you elevate do you go into a place right or do you actually stay as louis but just different.

14:03Do you know me? Because the positivity of you is magnetic. I can't imagine you being any different than you. No. So is it just literally a change of... The thing is, I'm an attention seeker through and through. I'm like Tinkerbell. I need the applause or I'm going to die. But like, literally, you put a wig on me, I'm exactly the same. I don't have like... I know drag queens who like, they'll become the queen, the diva, when they put the wig on and it'll be, you know, and it'll be like, you can sense when they arrive. Whereas for me, I'm like, it's the same. So if you were sat here now in full drag, you'd be sat the same way.

14:34Oh my God, totally. Totally the same. I really don't see a difference. Yeah. I mean, maybe people... I thought, my perception was that you would be different and there'd be a much more dramatic kind of in-character. I'm so camped. So it's in here. Yeah, literally. It's in the brain. And what's lovely as well is the question was sort of loaded because you clearly seem super positive and happy right now. And it doesn't actually make you any happier when you're in drag. I wondered if there was a kind of pining moment to put the whole stuff on to then flourish as yourself and thrive, but then have to be a bit more subdued as Louis.

15:09No. There's none of that. No. Like I said, it's like, why be a Diet Coke version of yourself? But that's constant. Totally. And once you realise that, it's like my secret for life. It's like, oh my God. There's also a Judy Garland quote. I think it's Judy Garland when she's like, don't be a second rate version of somebody else, just be yourself or something like that. like that's these are great quotes but if someone was watching you now and seeing just how you're an extreme of where some people can't even get to some people won't even post on social media because they're too afraid of being judged you sort of touched on that earlier but in terms of that advice to to be yourself you know to actually just just take that plunge of look just embrace it what's the worst that can happen and if someone was watching this now going i can't i'll leave myself open to not just judgment but also you must have been subject to criticism and all sorts of negative nasty comments how do you deal with that how do you block that out what's your coping motion you know I think like as soon as you realize it's like I'm very much on a fitness craze at the moment I'm fully obsessed and I remember going to the gym when I first started going to the gym I was like I don't want to go because there's going to be people looking at me and then they'll be like judging me because I don't know how to use the equipment right and I I don't know how this goes.

16:22So I'm going to have to ask someone. It's actually quite refreshing though. You think like that. Because you're so positive. I can't imagine you thinking like that. And then it's like, as soon as you realise, it's like, hang on, everyone's so like wrapped up in their own lives and what they've got going on. It's like, you don't pay attention to anyone else. And then as soon as you realise that, it's like, oh, everyone's got their own. It's so true though, right? And it's like, no one cares. Overthink the whole thing. Yeah, totally, totally. And I think it's so easy to get to that point with like, especially social media and putting things out there.

16:47And it's like, what is the worst that can happen? A lot of the time, if I'm on TikTok or Instagram, the content I enjoy the most is the organic where someone will be like, I'm probably going to delete this in a bit. It's like, no, I'm invested. Now you said that, I'm invested because it's organic and it's real and it's like no pretense. There's no filters and it's just real raw emotion. You're a pleasure to it because I'm craving authenticity. Yeah. And so anyone that comes on to Extreme Life Stories is invited for that reason. So this is just a pleasure for me. What's the kind of North Star for you?

17:19So you love being the centre of attention. There's things you've already done that give you the perspective and experience to know what you enjoy. The drag race sort of thing sounds like it's a mega fun thing for you. But if you could do anything you haven't done yet, what would it be? Oh my God. Well, now my goal is I want an okay wedding. And I'm practising my Slavic stare because I want to become the next first lady. Can I see it? So I'm doing a lot of Melania, you know. I'm going to get a big hat so I don't actually have to kiss anyone. Like that's, I'm taking advice, you know, and I want a Birkin bag.

17:51So, you know, setting the goals. But no, I think like for me, I, I just want to keep like, I feel like going on a show like Drag Race gives you such a platform, which like without you would never get, you would never have, or would be lucky enough to have that platform. So like, I just want to keep like pushing and, and being the positive queer representation that wasn't on TV when I grew up. When I grew up, if there was a gay person in the programme, they were the joke. Or it was like, they've been murdered. And it was like, oh, okay, so those are my two options. I'm either the joke or I'm going to get killed.

18:27Is that changing now? Because there's a huge change in that LGBTQ. Totally, I think so. And you're probably pioneering that. So is there a scenario where you could be, as Kitty as well, you could actually be a media star on the TV, mainstream, things that would give you that centre of attention that you love, the theatre and so on. Are those roles there or do you feel like they're still in the minority? With musical theatre and theatre, I feel like that is still so in the past. I've got so many friends that are pushing the way and breaking boundaries. My friend River, who was on my season of Drag Race, has just done the Steps musical and it's like, oh my god, that's incredible.

19:08You're doing a part that is a drag queen but then you also get to do like the boys stuff as well. And it's like doing stuff like that. And like the Vivian with what Viv did with Wizard of Oz and stuff like that. It's like amazing that it's like we're seeing really positive queer role models showing that like it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be like, yes, the Wicked Witch of the West is traditionally a middle aged woman. But what's to stop an angry homosexual do it? You know, like a sassy gay put, oh my God. Let's break down The Wizard of Oz. the wicked witch she's sassy that could be a gay man and so could Glinda I'd be a good Glinda and I think we're all craving that there's been all sorts there was a show called Anne Juliet I don't know if you saw it and we went to see it on New Year's Eve about two, three years ago as a family didn't know what to expect absolutely brilliant just mixing things up just changing the narrative I think we're all craving that because if it's Disney churning out a number three number four number five or a different version of what you just said I'd go and watch that it's entertaining right Exactly, exactly that.

20:13You've got a lot that you could attribute to being successful, including sort of breaking stigma and very much sort of building identity around being yourself. I feel like you're on a journey, which has clearly still got a long way to go, but right now, how do you define success? I think success is defined by happiness, and it's like fulfillment in your life, how fulfilled you feel. And it's like I go to bed every day and I just think like, oh my god like if I could have told myself like five years ago this would be my where my life is I would be like this is amazing and it's like oh my god and like having a positive mindset I think is so so important I think like obviously you have bad days and you have like like life is in the words of Ronan Keating life is a roller coaster you've just got to ride it I hope that was Ronan Keating that said that but like it's so true it's like you go through the highs you go It's a great attitude.

21:05I can feel it's magnetic from you. Where's that positivity come from? Has it always been? Because I know you've had, Dr. Spend, you've always been clearly staying focused on getting through knocking over obstacles. Yeah. Was that through your upbringing or where's this positivity? My parents are really, like, really positive and they'll always look for the best in people. And I think having that growing up and growing up as, like, a queer child who was bullied and it's like but regardless of that like be nice to people because you never know what they're going through and I think like growing up having that mindset thinking like okay these boys are picking on me at school but do you know what I'm gonna rise above and like like it took years of like realizing oh that is actually the way to do it as annoying as it is to listen to your parents like actually do it because your parents were a voice in your head so it wasn't just you working with so they've had to go through their own journey of knowing that their boy is not going to grow up in the imagination every parent has and then you've got to get fully supportive of that and help with all sorts of unknowns.

22:02They sound like they're a really important part of your shaping. Incredible, yeah no it's so so good and I'm one of six kids and we're all so so different. The rest of them have like I say like normal jobs like but they are very much like my older brother's an accountant and one's a builder, my sister is training to be a midwife like they've all got Do they embrace you for who you are? Yeah so much. So the whole family unit It works actually because there's a whole embracing. And are they all as positive as you? I can't imagine anyone as big as positive as you. Oh my God, no, they are, I swear.

22:32Wow, what a family. Yeah, and it's so fun when we get together because it is just like, I feel like growing up with, I've got like four brothers and it's like the banter is so funny. I mean, I like dishing it out as much as the next one, you know, and it's like, oh my God, who can go the furthest? I love that. So it shows you how much it's shaped from a young age. So I touched earlier that there could be youngsters or there could be people that have got into maturity and have got themselves locked up. specifically with drag have you spoken to other men that have come to you and gone I wish I could be like you I've got these I've got these thoughts that's where I'd like to be or dare I say not quite understanding themselves and coming to you asking questions because that's what it's about curiosity everything I'm asking you now comes from a place of curiosity totally if you close that off it's a dark and lonely place to be do you have have you got a sort of barometer now on how many more people like yourself young or old are trapped and potentially wanting to come out i mean i think there's a bit of a drag queen in everyone well this is but it's like you wake up in the morning like rupaul says you wake up in the morning regardless of your job you put your drag on and you go to work and it's like your drag could be putting your office clothes on and going and doing your nine to five it's like we're all born naked and the rest is drag and it is so true how we choose to look that's kind of where i was going and it's like and you take it to an extreme as as far as society is concerned.

23:47Sure. But then there's other people in the room, we're all wearing different things today. We all choose what to wear. And there's this whole spectrum. And some people probably would love to be a lot more flamboyant, reflecting their true feelings of. And it's just whether you inspire people to do it, whether you get an outpouring from people asking you about it. Totally, yeah. I remember also being, when I first started doing drag, again, it's like breaking down these walls of being like, oh, should I wear this? I don't know if I should wear this. I remember I had a really curly wig. and it was just like, it was like very 70s curly wig.

24:19And I remember I had it in the dressing room and I was like, I don't think I should wear it. And this, my drag sister, Margo, she was like, who's telling you you can't wear it? Wear the wig. Like, you'll feel great in it. And it's like, as soon as you allow yourself the freedom to put the wig on and like go out there and feel like Olivia Newton-John, it's like, oh yeah. Again, everyone's got their own like problems going on, not problems, but like they've got their own things going on in their heads that it's like, they just want a good time, you know? Well we all seek entertainment and we all seek escapism and a lot of that is just through our eyes.

24:52It could be doom scrolling on social media, going to watch something at the theatre and so on. Whereas let's bring Drag Race up, right? Because you come alive when you talk about that. So you get to go out in your drag but you're also dancing, you're singing, so it's a whole ecosystem of fueling what you actually enjoy. Yeah totally. It's so perfect. There's not enough of that, right? And some people don't have that outlet. No. But tell me what does happen at Drag Race. I'm really interested. Oh, my God. I mean, it's wild. You get trapped in a hotel room and they sellotape you in. It's like all the things you hear about are so true.

25:22And it's like, what? Oh, my God. I don't know about it. Oh, my God. Like, it's like you give your phone away. Like, so you have no contact. So you're fully present. But that's the thing. It's like you're fully present. And so when you're in the workroom with the other queens, it's like this is everything I'm living for because I've got nothing going on in the outside world. Also, when we filmed season three of UK Drag Race, my first season, we were in the pandemic. We were in lockdown. So it was like, I really have nothing going on. So I'm going to live for every moment of this. And I remember my friend Cheryl gave me advice.

25:54She was on the first series of Drag Race UK. Before I went away to film, she was like, you need to live every day as if you know you're going to get eliminated. Because then you don't care. You're just going to go and you're going to say the funny thing. or you're going to do a little bit extra, you know, because you just think like, well, what's the worst that can happen? And that is literally like the key to life. It's like, what is the worst that could happen? I love that. What does an average day look like for you? And do you have like a morning routine? You mentioned fitness. I have no two days which are the same, but that's, I mean, I never feel like I'm working a day in my life because every day is just so fun.

26:26And it's so true. Like I always make sure, so I'm training for London Marathon at the moment, which is amazing. So like this morning I woke up, I did my LED face mask because again, very easily influenced. I see it on TikTok and apparently it's great. They keep popping up on the market as well. I'm literally like, I need that. So I do that for like five minutes in the morning. I'm like, oh, ready to do the day. And then I'll have my lemon and lime and ginger water. And then I went and did a 16 mile run this morning and then went for a swim. And then I'm here now. And then it's like, I go home and then I'm like, okay, I know I've got to do a wig for tomorrow.