Charra Tea is the stage name of James Martin, a Northern Irish drag performer competing on the sixth series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.
Early life
Martin was born in Belfast.[1] She was first drawn to drag after portraying the role of Mr. Pinky in a production of Hairspray as a teenager while attending Grosvenor Grammar School. She was later inspired to pursue a drag career by the dresses and costumes she saw at the charity shop she volunteered at on Botanic Avenue, Belfast. The shop also provided inspiration for her stage name, as it is a pun on the word "charity". She began experimenting with makeup in October 2018, performed as Charra Tea for the first time in January 2019, and began performing regularly in April of that year.[2] She left Belfast at age 19 to study graphic design at the University of Leeds.[1][2][3]
She has stated her drag inspirations to be Blu Hydrangea, Miz Cracker, Robyn Diamonds and Rusty Hinges.[2] Her drag is inspired by bold colors and her background as an "artsy kid", and enjoys incorporating references to British and Irish pop culture figures such as Gemma Collins, Kim Woodburn, and Nadine Coyle into her performances.[4]
