Ipswich’s newly revamped Cornhill was given an extra touch of glamour today, as filming for a new reality series came to town.
The new Channel 4 series, understood to be called The Drag Lab, features a drag group tour the country giving makeovers to locals for a special performance.
The group, dubbed The Family Gorgeous and headed by Manchester drag queens Cheddar Gorgeous and Anna Phylactic, arrived on the Cornhill on Wednesday morning in a special bus.
The performers then strutted their stuff in front of the old Post Office to film a lip sync performance segment for the show, in front of passing shoppers left bemused and delighted by the unusual town takeover.
It is understood the filming with the Suffolk contestants will continue this week.
A spokeswoman from Screen Suffolk, which helped find locations and arrange filming permits, said: “Drag Lab contacted us about central Ipswich locations.
“We couldn’t think of a better place than the Cornhill in front of the historic Post Office.
“Screen Suffolk were delighted to turn this around with very short notice.”
The filming came just a day ahead of the Ipswich Christmas lights switch-on, with preparations for the grand event underway on the Cornhill throughout.
Mark Whiting, commercial manager at Ipswich Borough Council, said: “It is great to see the new Cornhill being used for this filming.
“We also have the big festive lights switch-on on Thursday, Pop Chorus on Saturday and the Christmas craft fair next month.
“The Cornhill is a very attractive and versatile space and we hope community groups as well as commercial ventures will come forward with ideas for future events.”
It is not yet clear when the new series will be aired, although it is believed Ipswich is one of the last stops for filming, meaning it could be aired as early as the first half of 2019.
Screen Suffolk is the county’s one-stop service for filming, including organising filming permits, location scouting, aiding logistics, and recruiting local talent to work on film and TV productions, as well as photoshoots, adverts and web videos.
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