Drag Race star Kyran Thrax reveals she was groomed at 13 years old

Kyran Thrax, one of the standout stars of RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 6, shared an emotional story in a recent episode about being groomed at 13 years of age.

During an out-of-drag conversation in the werk room, La Voix asked Kyran where his confidence comes from. Kyran revealed that it took a long time for him to feel confident as a person after years of self-loathing, which resulted from meeting an older man via Facebook and being groomed by that person.

At the time, the Drag Race UK star was 13 and newly out as a gay boy. Meanwhile, the older man lied about his age — claiming to be 19 when he was actually 23. That relationship evolved, and the 23-year-old man was welcomed into Kyran's home under the guise of being a friend.

"He abused me for a very long time," Kyran recalled in the episode. "I kept it a secret from my mum because I knew, deep down, it was wrong."

Even though Kyran had a few suspicions, his 13-year-old self shoved them aside. "Maybe he is a predator, maybe he is a pedophile, but maybe I'm the one he's actually in love with," he reasoned at the time.

In a 2017 BBC story published when Kyran was 19, he said that the "turning point" was when he found out that abuser's true age in a text message and began to understand the scope of the lies. He also discovered that the same man was chatting with other teenagers that Kyran was friends with.

"I gave him everything: all of my innocence, all of my childhood," Kyran said on Drag Race UK. "I'm so angry he robbed that from me."

Kyran eventually reported the older man to the police, and the abuser pled guilty. He was convicted and sentenced to prison.

In a recent interview with Attitude, Kyran discussed what it was like to talk about that traumatic experience on television.

"It really kind of took me by surprise how much it affected me talking about it there. Drag Race is such an intense experience anyway, so I found myself almost surprised at how much emotion came out of me. I didn't want to show a crack or any kind of weakness, but letting that guard down just felt so overwhelmingly intense."

Kyran also feels grateful that sharing such a painful story is having some positive impact.

"There's been thousands of messages of people thanking me, people saying that they feel seen. Parents have reached out, saying that they've watched it with their children. It's been amazing because it's a scary thing to talk about and to open up about on television. You're never really sure what the response is going to be," said Thrax. "I'm appreciative for everybody that's been reaching out, for being able to chat about this, and for having the opportunity to tell my story on Drag Race. It was told in such an amazing and delicate way, and I'm just so grateful."

SEXUAL VIOLENCE/SEX TRAFFICKINGIf you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, theNational Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 with free and confidential services. More resources are available here. If you or someone you know has experienced trafficking, or if you suspect someone is a victim of trafficking, theNational Human Trafficking Hotline is also available at 1-888-373-7888, toll-free and 24/7.