Sipping coffee in Cardiff Bay during a break from his day job as a personal trainer, Steele Quinnell, a scion of the Quinnell rugby dynasty, is matter of fact about how his path in life has diverged from that of his relatives.
His grandfather Derek, father Scott and uncles Craig and Gavin are renowned as literal and figurative giants in Welsh rugby – all well over 6ft tall and fearless on the pitch.
Like the other members of his family, Quinnell, 26, is in the public eye, but on a very different stage – as drag queen Heidi Heights, an act he launched in the spring. Earlier this month, the Ffos Las race course, where Quinnell regularly gigs, asked him to give an interview to promote a race weekend, which then exploded online as delighted rugby fans realised there was a plot twist to the Quinnell legacy.
“I mean, nothing I said in the interview was bad or wild or anything, but I think I was a bit naive to the fact that it was going to go big … I thought it was just going to be a local thing for the people around the race course. But suddenly there was all this interest.”
While he was growing up there was never any pressure from his family to try to become an international rugby star like his forefathers, but he gave the sport a try anyway.
Allow TikTok content?
This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
“All the PE teachers, they were like: ‘Ah, Scott Quinnell’s boy. I can’t wait to get him going, I’ll be the one he’s talking about as an early inspiration when he’s on Scrum V on the BBC.’ I think they realised quite quickly they had their work cut out for them.
“I played about one game when I was little in Llanelli and I thought: ‘Nah, this isn’t for me.’ My dad was fine with it. He told me: ‘If you don’t want to do it, your heart’s not in it, then don’t, because it’s not easy, you’ll get battered around on the pitch.’
“They knew I was into musicals and singing and instead they pushed me to be the best musician I could possibly be. My family are so supportive, I could do anything and they’d be behind it. Tomorrow I could turn around and say I want to be a pilot or something, and they’d say: ‘Go for it.’”
skip past newsletter promotion
The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Quinnell learned the saxophone, guitar and piano as a teenager and was involved in school plays and amateur dramatic productions – a passion he pursued while studying undergraduate and master’s degrees in psychology in Bristol and into his adult life in Cardiff. Quinnell is now what he describes as a “psychologically informed” personal trainer, helping people “be happy, rather than just chasing weight loss or other goals mindlessly”.
Drag, though, wasn’t on the 26-year-old’s radar until last year. During an audition for the part of Charlie in a local production of Kinky Boots, the directors asked if he would consider playing drag queen Lola instead.
To his surprise, he loved the wigs and heels – and his performance was so well received that he was immediately offered paid drag gigs, including pantomime dame roles, one-off cabaret slots, and then a residency.
A new double act? Steele Quinnell (right) with his father, Scott. Photograph: Steele Quinnell
“My first persona was Steele-etto, but I dropped her. She was far too sexy, and that’s not me. I landed on Heidi Heights because I’m blond and blue-eyed. It’s camp and fun and it works on different levels. I’m 6ft 6in, and 7ft in heels. It’s best to acknowledge that I’m a giant upfront!” Quinnell said.
Heidi Heights’s act is playful, quick-witted and heavy on audience interaction – elements Quinnell attributes to his father, who has built a successful media career since retiring from rugby union in 2005.
“I definitely get the jokes and the wittiness from my dad, he’s one of those people who can go around the room making people laugh. And I’m definitely more on the British side of drag than the American, none of this dancing and lip-syncing and all that, I’d be so uncomfortable. Give me a mic and I’ll stand there and talk shit and sing the night away.”
Quinnell is delighted by Heidi Heights’s success, although he’s not sure yet about the direction his drag journey will take; at some point, he wants to return to university to pursue a PhD in psychology. For the time being, a double act with his father could be in the offing.
“The first time he saw Heidi, we were driving home and he turned around and said: ‘You know what, we can go on tour; I’ll do the talking, you do the singing. You can be Steele in the first half and in the second half I’ll say: “My daughter’s just arrived!”’”
