North West award-winning drag queen Ayleesha Tryed to hang up her heels

An award-winning drag queen from the North West who burst on to the scene in 2018 has decided to hang up her heels at the end of the year, saying performing has taken a toll on her body. Port Hedland resident Ayleesha Tryed first put on her heels for the Broome Mardi Gras and, in 2019, won the Kimberley Queen competition in Broome. After that, Ayleesha competed in the 2019 Miss First Nation drag pageant in Melbourne and made “her-story” by becoming the first WA finalist in the competition. While she did not snatch the Miss First Nation crown, she walked away with the title of Miss Congeniality, which was a personal goal of hers going into the pageant. Ayleesha is the brainchild of Thomas Lockyer, who started off performing for friends and family. Since then, she has travelled across the North West, performing in Broome, Karratha, Port Hedland, Exmouth and many other small towns across the Kimberley and the Pilbara. Speaking to the Pilbara News, Ms Tryed said her drag journey began as a bit of a joke. “Going up to Broome and entering Kimberley Queen in 2018 as a bit of joke, just going up with a couple of friends, with just my friend’s dress, a couple of T-shirts and boobs,” she said. “And Ayleesha kind of blossomed from there.” She describes the character of Ayleesha as the life of the party. “She loves a good laugh and definitely has the confidence I don’t have in my day-to-day life,” she said. Initially, Ms Tryed was worried about being ridiculed when she travelled to small mining towns. “But I’ve been accepted in small towns throughout the Pilbara with open arms and love and gratitude,” she said. “It goes to show that we are in the 21st century. You do get your negative comments here and there and you’ve got to learn to brush them off to pursue your dream.” Ms Tryed said the decision to retire was the right one but the performing was taking a toll on her body. “I’ve been doing Ayleesha for four years now. I’m definitely not getting any younger and my shows go from anywhere between two to six hours,” she said. “its definitely taking a toll on my body walking in heels for six hours at a time and it’s definitely not a cheap hobby.” Looking back at her years of performing, she said one of her favourite spots to perform was Exmouth. “Exmouth was my favourite, and it was quite recent,” she said. “I had basically the whole town jam-packed into a very small area. That was absolutely amazing. “Everywhere I’ve been has its own story and personality.” When giving advice to any future drag queens, her advice was simple. “Just do it, have fun with it,” she said. “Everyone has their own style. Just have fun with it and don’t be too serious.”