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Culture Club frontman and former The Voice Australia mentor, Boy George is at the centre of a heated debate surrounding his upcoming appearance as a guest judge on season four of Drag Race UK.

Trigger Warning: This story discusses assault and transphobic comments, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or .

The singer鈥檚 appearance has upset many Drag Race fans due to his checkered past, with a conviction for beating and imprisoning a male escort in 2007 as well as for making a series of transphobic statements in 2020.

Twitter was awash with angry commentary from Drag Race viewers, with tweets ranging from 鈥淒isgusting, an actual sex-offender and a violent one at that. What, you鈥檝e rehabilitated him now?鈥� to 鈥渘eed to bully Drag Race UK into editing out Boy George.鈥�

Other critical tweets included, 鈥淐onvicted sex offender and kidnapper? Keeping the standards high?鈥� 鈥淥h Jesus, gross,鈥澛� and 鈥淣ot the transphobe who beat a sex worker he chained up.鈥�

Another user noted that, 鈥淭he BBC and it鈥檚 attitude towards sex offences is absolutely outrageous.鈥澛�

Boy George’s Past Returns To Haunt Him

Category is鈥� Celebrity guest realness! 馃槏 Here鈥檚 all the fabulous faces coming to 4鈨ｂ湪

— RuPaul's Drag Race UK (@dragraceukbbc)

For his part, Boy George, 61, said he was excited to appear on the program. “Drag Race聽is such a phenomenon and it has unleashed intense creativity and debate. RuPaul has made the concept of drag into a household name!聽I鈥檓 part of the drag daisy chain,” George said. 鈥淓very nice drag queen is my sister and the rest are second cousins! It was a lot of fun being part of the show!”

The singer, whose real name is George O’Dowd, was convicted on December 5, 2008 for the false imprisonment of a male escort whom George had handcuffed to a wall and beat with a metal chain.

While George was sentenced to 15 months, he ultimately received an early release for good behaviour in May 2009, after serving only four months. He was required to wear an ankle monitor and comply to a curfew for the remainder of his sentence.

Boy George Tied Up Male Escort And Beat Him

George was in the throes of a 拢400 a day heroin addiction when, in April 2007, he met Aidun Carlsen via the website Gaydar Commercial.

When Carlsen came to the singer鈥檚 flat, George tied him up, and beat him; a crime which Judge David Radford called, 鈥漇o serious that only an immediate sentence of imprisonment can be justified.鈥�

In a 2017 interview on Piers Morgans Life Stories, Boy George said he hadn鈥檛 apologised to Carlsen. 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 think it would make any difference. I always felt like not talking about it was dignified.鈥�

鈥淚 sent myself to prison. I told the police why I did what I did. In hindsight I was having a psychotic episode. I was a drug addict so I can鈥檛 really sit here and say my reasons for doing it were founded in any way. I was insane. But I told the truth. I said, 鈥楾his is why I did it. I was having a paranoid episode.鈥欌��

鈥淭hat was terrible what I did, and I鈥檓 absolutely ashamed and sorry about what I did鈥�What I did was wrong. I still pay the consequences for that now,鈥� George told Morgan.

and opposed his The Voice gig.

“If a male celebrity beat up a woman with a chain, handcuffed her to a wall and threatened her with a sex toy, there would be a public outcry if he was given a high-profile job at the BBC.聽But because I am a gay man they think it’s OK. It’s outrageous,” Audun had said.

Eleven years ago today, English singer-songwriter-DJ Boy George pleads 'not guilty' to falsely imprisoning male escort Audun Carlsen by chaining him to a wall, 2008

— HillbillyWilly (@1HillbillyWilly)

Transphobic Comments

Boy George has also courted controversy over a number of transphobic statements he has made in the past.

In a May 2020 interview with The Sunday Times, George said transgender and non-binary people who use pronouns reflective of their own identities, 鈥渨ant to be offended because they think that whatever鈥檚 going on for them is much more important than anything else.鈥�

鈥淭he area we get into trouble is what it is permissible to say to a gay person: 鈥楢ddress me as this, address me as that,鈥欌�� George said, 鈥渂ut I鈥檒l call you whatever you want. I鈥檝e spent years calling people fake names. Boy George. Siouxsie Sioux. Johnny Rotten. Of course, it鈥檚 not the same as your sexuality.鈥�

https://twitter.com/Lycoris_Wah/status/1215055190015008769

George courted anger again in January 2020 when he tweeted, 鈥淟eave your pronoun’s at the door!鈥� When a Twitter user was critical of his tweet, George replied, 鈥淵ou must refer to me as ‘Napoleon’ and that’s as ridiculous as it gets! I used the ladies toilet throughout the 80s!鈥� George also tweeted that pronoun usage was 鈥淎 modern form of attention seeking.鈥�

In a subsequent interview with Billboard, George clarified his controversial comments saying, 鈥淭here is a lot of bullying online, like 鈥榊ou have to do this, you have to do that.鈥欌��

鈥淭here is this sense that our lives are being run by the internet.聽My point when I said the thing about the pronouns was, you will never have a situation, when you encounter me, where you鈥檒l have to explain yourself to the degree where it鈥檚 uncomfortable for you,鈥� George said.

Drag Race UK Guest Judges Announced

 

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Other guests announced by the BBC for the upcoming season of Drag Race UK include Dame Joanna Lumley, Mel B, FKA Twigs, Olly Alexander, Alison Hammond, Cathy Dennis, and Lorraine Pascale.聽

Lumley said, “It thrills me to be a part of聽RuPaul鈥檚 Drag Race UK. The show is astounding at every level, and I loved it from the very start.聽RuPaul is the definition of what it is to be fabulous, and the show is packed with mad creativity, humour, and drop-dead glamour,”聽Lumley said.

Strictly Come Dancing鈥檚 Tess Daly, who is a guest for the ever-popular Snatch Game episode said, “What is there not to love about Drag Race UK? The hair, the make-up, the glamour, the costumes, the lip synching, Ru, Michelle 鈥� I love you forever. I love it all.鈥�

While an announcement for the premiere date for Drag Race UK season four has yet to be made by the BBC, a short teaser trailer was uploaded on the show鈥檚 official Twitter page on Tuesday featuring the new tagline: “BRING IT TO THE RUNW4Y.鈥澛�

The cast of Queens competing is also under wraps, though rumoured Queens include Black Peppa, Chedder Gorgeous, Danny Beard, and Pixie Polite amongst others.聽RuPaul will once again be joined for the new season by Michelle Visage, Alan Carr, and Graham Norton.聽