Fresh from snatching the crown in Drag Race UK, award-winning artist, writer and silly sausage Ginger Johnson will be making her Soho Theatre debut this Christmas.

Featuring festive comedy, costumes and camp musical classics – along with deep cuts from the stranger side of the holiday songbook – Ginger All The Way promises more ham than a boxing day buffet.

Best known for her barnstorming theatrics and taste for the ridiculous, Ginger has one high heel firmly planted in the rich history of drag, and the other heading off on its latest, ludicrous adventure.

 “I’m so excited to bring my new Christmas show to Soho Theatre, a venue with a fabulous history of presenting the work of iconic queer performers”, she said. “From Jinkx Monsoon to Dina Martina, David Hoyle to Bourgeois and Maurice, I’ve seen so many of my heroes perform here over the years, and I’m thrilled to join their glittering ranks.”

Ginger Johnson: Ginger All The Way is presented by Soho Theatre and Tim Whitehead.

Who is Ginger and how would she describe herself?

Ginger is a helium balloon in the shape of a woman – she’s bright and colourful and prone to floating off on an unplanned adventure if left unattended.  Ginger is inspired by some of the amazing women I grew up around in the North East.  She doesn’t take herself too seriously, but she’s also not afraid to tell you how it is, should the need arise.

What can we expect to see in Ginger All The Way?

In some ways, Ginger All The Way! is a love letter to the camp Christmas spectaculars we used to see on TV from some of my heroes such as Morcambe & Wise, Lucille Ball and Victoria Wood.  It’s packed with songs, stories and the kind of silliness that truly makes the yuletide GAY.

How did you come up with the concept of this show?

This show takes all of my favourite things about the festive period and combines them with a healthy dose of the kind of absurd humour that people have come to expect from me over the years. Christmas isn’t always an easy time for Queer people, who may not be able to relate some of the more traditional, family-orientated narratives that surround it.  I wanted to create a show that makes space for Queer people and their friends to imagine their own version of what the festive season can be, in a way that fells like a celebration of who they are and how they live.

How was your experience in Drag Race?

I absolutely loved being on Drag Race. Being on that show is like going to the Disneyland of drag – it puts you through every loop-the-loop that you could possibly experience, both creatively and emotionally!  One day you’re in a fashion show, the next you’re in a musical, and the day after that you’re playing a saxophone solo on someone else’s foot.  What’s not to love about that?!

How did being on the show impact your performance style? How do you feel now that the show is over?

I’m not sure yet how much the show has changed who I am as a performer… I’d already been doing drag for around 15 years when I skedaddled my way into that big pink box, so I think the DNA of Ginger Johnson was already in place.  When you’re there, there really isn’t much time to think about anything, which wasn’t easy for me as I’m very much an over-thinker, so the experience did teach me that I can trust my instincts a bit more than I have allowed myself to in the past.  I’m excited to see where that takes me and Ginger going forward.

What does the future hold for Ginger?

Once Ginger All The Way! is packed away into the loft for another year with all the other Christmas bits and bobs, I’m really looking forward to taking Ginger out on the road and meeting all of the new friends she has made through their television screens.  We have two big tours planned for next year and lots more fabulous projects in the pipeline that you’ll get to hear about very soon.  It’s really exciting to be setting out on this big adventure at this stage in my career and I’m so grateful for the chance to share my silliness with the world.