Gay teen goes viral for performing a stunning death drop at his graduation

Brandon Austin/Sophia Stardust
Brandon Austin/Sophia Stardust Photo: Instagram/Brandon Austin

A teen drag queen knew how to get his classmates cheering at graduation: do a death drop.

Brandon Austin, who performs as Sophia Stardust, just graduated from West Kent College, near London, England.

He told Gay Star News that he noticed most of his theatre classmates were doing more than walking across the stage. They were adding bows or waving to the crowd.

“I just said to my friends, ‘How iconic would it be if I did a death drop?'” he said. “All my friends were into it. So when I got up there, and all my friends were cheering, I just thought let’s do it.”

Related: This ‘drag kid’ had the best response to a Republican website that ridiculed him

“The crowd screamed and cheered. Everyone was also so shocked. It was amazing.”

The video has been viewed over three million times.

He said he started doing dance as a young child and realized that he was gay when he was nine or ten.

“I never came out – I wasn’t badly bullied as such,” he said. “People would tease, saying to me you’re gay and we know it. It can really destroy your confidence.”

“When I went to college and I saw openly gay people for the first time, I was overwhelmed.”

He has been doing drag ever since he was pulled on stage at a drag show and lipsynced with three other people.

As for whether he plans to try out for Drag Race now that there’s a UK version, he said, “I’m not going to apply until I’m ready.”

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