Wales rugby legend's son becomes drag queen called Heidi Heights

Wales Online

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Wales rugby legend's son becomes drag queen called Heidi Heights
Steele Quinnell has landed a big gig this week and explains how he's ended up taking a very different career path
Steele Quinnell as his alter ego Heidi Heights
(Image: Steele Quinnell)
When your surname is Quinnell and you live in Wales, any public performance is likely to bring scrutiny.
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For decades, the surname has been synonymous with bravery on the pitch - from Derek Quinnell's bruising battles in the 1970s to his son Scott's barnstorming displays 20 years later, often alongside brother Craig, before the emergence of youngest sibling, Gavin.
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The family name is stitched into Welsh rugby folklore.
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But while the Quinnell dynasty is famed for rugby daring, Scott's son, Steele is showing the courage to seek approval on a very different stage.
Twenty-six-year-old Steele – a personal trainer, sports masseur, psychology graduate and ocassional actor – has a new gig.
He's a drag performer, under the stage name Heidi Heights.
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And on Friday he will pull on the sequins and take centre stage at Ffos Las Racecourse, for Ladies Day, a booking that signals how quickly his alter ego has risen in Wales' drag scene.
'It's going to be really good fun,' Steele says, with the infectious energy that seems to power all his ventures.
'I'm doing a half cabaret at the start – songs that everyone will know, songs you can really enjoy singing along to. And I'll be making jokes along the way because at the end of the day, I'm dressed up. If you take that too seriously, you probably shouldn't be there!'
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What makes Steele's story remarkable is how accidental his drag career was.
Steele Quinnell, as he is off stage
(Image: Steele Quinnell)
The one-time rower at university in Bristol, now works as a fitness coach in Cardiff, but has always loved performing.
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School productions of Les Misérables and Oliver! gave him a taste for the stage. Later, he even toured with his father, Scott, on The Lion Speaks Tonight, a hybrid of rugby stories, music, and Q&A.
But the real turning point came when he auditioned for a local production of the musical, Kinky Boots.
Initially, Steele went for the male lead, Charlie. The directors had other ideas.
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'They said, 'You've got a fantastic voice, but we've already got someone in mind for Charlie. Have you ever thought of playing Lola?'' Steele recalls.
'I hadn't – not really. But I gave it a go, sang 'Suddenly Seymour' as my audition piece, and they just turned around and said, 'That's it. You're our Lola.''
Stepping into high heels was daunting.
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'I was kind of off my head thinking, 'Do I want to do this part? Is it appropriate?'' he admits.
'But I just thought, sod it, I'll do it.'
The show proved transformative. Steele discovered not only that he could perform as a drag artist but that he loved it.
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Offers quickly followed – panto dame roles, one-off cabaret slots, then a residency.
By January this year, he committed to drag properly.
Heidi Heights is performing at Ffos Las racecourse
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'I bought a nice wig, started making my own costumes, and really put some effort into it. Since then, I've got three residencies in bars, and I'm booked every Saturday for the rest of the year.'
Choosing a drag name is no small task.
At first, he toyed with a tongue-in-cheek pun on his own name – 'Steel-etto.' But he wanted separation between his rugby-royalty identity and his drag persona.
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Tall, blonde, and broad-shouldered, Steele leaned into that when creating Heidi Heights.
'I thought, I'm very tall, blonde, blue-eyed – I'll go for something that sounds Scandinavian or German. Then I remembered the old TV show, Hi-de-Hi! and thought, perfect!
'It's camp, it's funny, it tells you I'm tall – and I can play with it in the act. When I say 'Heidi Heights,' the crowd replies, 'Ho-de-ho!''
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That interactive, playful streak is at the core of his shows.
Steele is showing the courage to seek approval on a very different stage
(Image: Steele Quinnell)
'I'll change words in songs to make them funny, get people up on stage, do girl-band routines where I'm Beyoncé and they're Michelle and Kelly. I'm not the funniest, but I love making people laugh and join in.'
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Steele's professional life outside drag is just as full. He's a qualified personal trainer, sports massage therapist, and has a master's degree in psychology.
He describes himself as a 'mind coach,' helping clients reach both fitness and personal goals.
'I think the theme across everything I do is about making people happy,' he explains.
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'With personal training, I help someone reach a goal. With massage, I help them feel less pain. With psychology, I help them understand themselves.
'And with drag, I make people laugh and smile for an evening. It all comes back to that.'
Balancing these careers isn't easy. Some months he performs 14 gigs on top of his work in the gym. But Steele thrives on the chaos.
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'I'm completely ADHD, I need to be busy,' he says. 'If I'm not training someone, I'm making a dress, re-styling a wig, or learning songs.'
With rugby icons for a father and grandfather, Steele could easily have felt boxed in by expectation.
Instead, he's found a way to channel the same charisma and love of entertaining into a different form.
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'My dad has always been one of my biggest advocates,' Steele says.
'He never made a big fuss about it – just, 'What else am I supposed to do? You're my son.''
Scott Quinnell
(Image: Rob Browne)
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In fact, Scott Quinnell's own career pivot – from rugby player to successful TV personality and motivational speaker – seems to have inspired Steele.
'I've always said, my dad's a drag queen without the wig,' Steele jokes.
'He has this superpower of identifying people in a room for a laugh and keeping everyone's attention. I've probably inherited that. I could never do a scripted three-hour show, and neither could he. We're at our best when we're being authentic.'
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Despite the success of TV shows like RuPaul's Drag Race, drag still seems to provoke negativity in some circles,
But despite the macho streak that still runs through some parts of rugby, Steele insists there was never any prospect of anything other than full support from his father.
'I don't think my dad ever saw it as needing his acceptance,' he says.
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'For him, it was just obvious – I'm his son, of course he supports me. If he acted any other way, he'd be a bit of a prat!'
Craig Quinnell and Scott Quinnell of Wales celebrate victory over France in 2001
Steele says the persona of Heidi Heights may have a long future, or could just as easily end up in the cupboard with the wings.
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'I don't like the idea of having just one stream of income – I'd get bored. Maybe I'll go back and do a PhD in psychology, maybe I'll end up on TV. I like to live in the moment and diversify.'
For now, though, all eyes are on his upcoming appearance at Ffos Las, where the gates open for Ladies Day at 12.10 and the last race is at 5.00pm, with plenty of entertainment to follow. You can buy tickets here.
Ladies Day is known for its glamour, but Heidi Heights promises to take it up a notch.
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'It'll be a laugh from start to finish,' Steele says.
'I want everyone to leave smiling.'