Troi Anthony was battling with anxiety and depression when he discovered the antidote to his pain was not medication but his alter ego.
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Vanity Wilde is one of 10 Canberra drag queens, and with 5000 followers on Facebook his confidence is now shining brighter than his makeup's highlighter.
"If I didn't do something soon to sort myself out, or find something, my family would have buried me a couple of years ago," he said.
"For me being a drag queen is different, I feel like a completely different person, I feel I've created my dream alter ego."
Working in Canberra's gay community for 12 years Mr Anthony had established a name for himself, but the first time he went out dressed as a queen his friends didn't recognise him.
"My normal friends weren't actually talking to me, they completely snobbed me because they didn't recognise me. But that felt good, because I was like 'these people don't know me'," Mr Anthony said.
Since his first appearance as Vanity Wilde, he has performed in shows at Groovin the Moo, and has competed in drag queen competitions interstate.
"This has just completely given me a different feel. I found myself again. I'm happy, I've got my life, I've got my support, my family and friends are really supportive," Mr Anthony said.
His idol and drag queen mother Rachel, aka Richard Allen, said Vanity Wilde was a "young upcoming person and is absolutely amazing".
"Being in drag is not easy, it's not cheap. There's foundation, eyelashes, stockings, shoes, dresses, hair, and wigs," Rachel said.
"The best thing about a drag queen is that they've got to have wit. They have to be quick with their one-liners and comebacks. If you haven't got that, then you really haven't got the control of your audience, they will eat you alive."
Vanity Wilde and Rachel will be marching this year with the Camp-Berra Queen Capital float at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on March 4.
Rachel, also the founder of the community float, started it 37 years ago to show the rest of Australia that the territory existed.
"They need to know we have a gay and lesbian community. Canberra is only small but we do have a heart and we do a lot for our community. We work together, we come together with problems that need to be solved," Rachel said.
This year the float will have a rainbow flag made of sequins, meant to represent the concept of coming together as one.
"Just because we're gay and we have straight families doesn't mean we can't be connected. We're all even, we're all equal, we're all as one, we're all human, and we should never be judged," Rachel said.
