Belfast diva ready to take Drag Race 'by the horns'

It's time to start your engines. The new series of Ru Paul's Drag Race UK is about to start and contestant Coral-Hole Mandi is ready to "take it by the horns" and "give it everything".

The 27-year-old calls herself the Bikini Bottom Bimbo from Belfast and she is the only contestant from Northern Ireland in this season.

She is one of 12 contestants hoping to impress Mama Ru and Michelle Visage.

Her plans for doing that?

"I'm going to be the fully realised, colourful cartoon diva that I've always dreamed of being."

Mandi works in Belfast and loves "how alternative the Belfast drag scene is".

"No performer does the same thing in Belfast. Everyone has their own little niche. There's a lot of campy showgirly drag. There's a lot of old school divas. There's a lot of new age, more alternative drag, club kids and creatures as well.

"Any corner you look, there is every variety of drag in Belfast and it's amazing.

She thinks that should be celebrated more and that Belfast "probably has one of the most diverse drag scenes in the UK, but not a lot of Belfast drag has been represented".

Mandi thinks casting two queens from Belfast on the same season would allow them to "bounce off each other".

"I think that's the only way that you're going to get the authentic Northern Irish craic," she said.

Although Mandi is a "Belfast diva through and through", she is originally from Ballymena.

"There's not too many drag performers from Ballymena," she said, adding that there were some "culchie divas".

"They have a different personality, a different sense of craic than city people from Belfast," she said.

"It's like country charm, maybe."

Mandi studied marine biology and spent time in Indonesia studying coral reefs, which has inspired her act.

"My drag is very aquatic, creature of the deep, like marine biology, fish, mermaids, all of that stuff combined in one," she said.

"But I also like anything that's colourful, kaleidoscopic, and like crayons, I'm not afraid to play with all the colours in the pot.

"I always call myself the creature of the Black Dragoon."

For anyone new to RuPaul's Drag Race, a group of drag queens compete against each other by completing weekly challenges, like putting together edgy looks and performing lip sync battles.

Although Mandi does not describe herself as a singer or a dancer, she can "belt a note in the shower and in the car", so is looking forward to Rusical week where contestants sing, dance and act in a drag-themed production.

"I never thought in a million years that I'd be on the Drag Race main stage," she said.

"I was always happy enough with my local Belfast scene, working, doing the gigs."

She added: "It's now or never. I feel like you're not going to be young forever.

"Like, why not immortalise this on television forever while we're still gorge?"

So what can fans expect from this series?

Mandi says "a good bit of drama" and a "gorgeous cast of high-personality divas".

"You're not ready for it, " she said. "This is going to be one for the books."

So is it sink or swim for Coral-Hole? Will she wear the crown and get the coveted £25,000 cash prize or sashay away?

Mirandi thinks she is going to do "just fine".

"The Irish, we know how to charm. We have charisma for days, and RuPaul loves the Irish," she said.

Drag Race UK starts at 21:00 BST on Thursday 3 September on BBC Three and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.