School<\/a> productions of Les Mis\u00e9rables 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.<\/p>\nBut the real turning point came when he auditioned for a local production of the musical, Kinky Boots.<\/p>\n
Initially, Steele went for the male lead, Charlie. The directors had other ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said, \u2018You\u2019ve got a fantastic voice, but we\u2019ve already got someone in mind for Charlie. Have you ever thought of playing Lola?\u2019\u201d Steele recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t \u2013 not really. But I gave it a go, sang \u2018Suddenly Seymour\u2019 as my audition piece, and they just turned around and said, \u2018That\u2019s it. You\u2019re our Lola.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Stepping into high heels was daunting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of off my head thinking, \u2018Do I want to do this part? Is it appropriate?\u2019\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I just thought, sod it, I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show proved transformative. Steele discovered not only that he could perform as a drag artist but that he loved it.<\/p>\n
Offers quickly followed \u2013 panto dame roles, one-off cabaret slots, then a residency.<\/p>\n
By January this year, he committed to drag properly.<\/p>\n
![\"Heidi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Steele-Quinnell-4.jpg\")
Heidi Heights is performing at Ffos Las racecourse<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought a nice wig, started making my own costumes, and really put some effort into it. Since then, I\u2019ve got three residencies in bars, and I\u2019m booked every Saturday for the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Choosing a drag name is no small task.<\/p>\n
At first, he toyed with a tongue-in-cheek pun on his own name \u2013 \u201cSteel-etto.\u201d But he wanted separation between his rugby-royalty identity and his drag persona.<\/p>\n
Tall, blonde, and broad-shouldered, Steele leaned into that when creating Heidi Heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, I\u2019m very tall, blonde, blue-eyed \u2013 I\u2019ll go for something that sounds Scandinavian or German. Then I remembered the old TV show, Hi-de-Hi! and thought, perfect!<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s camp, it\u2019s funny, it tells you I\u2019m tall \u2013 and I can play with it in the act. When I say \u2018Heidi Heights,\u2019 the crowd replies, \u2018Ho-de-ho!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That interactive, playful streak is at the core of his shows.<\/p>\n
![\"Steele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Steele-Quinnell-5.jpg\")
Steele is showing the courage to seek approval on a very different stage(Image: Steele Quinnell)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll change words in songs to make them funny, get people up on stage, do girl-band routines where I\u2019m Beyonc\u00e9 and they\u2019re Michelle and Kelly. I\u2019m not the funniest, but I love making people laugh and join in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steele\u2019s professional life outside drag is just as full. He\u2019s a qualified personal trainer, sports massage therapist, and has a master\u2019s degree in psychology.<\/p>\n
He describes himself as a \u201cmind coach,\u201d helping clients reach both fitness and personal goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the theme across everything I do is about making people happy,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith personal training, I help someone reach a goal. With massage, I help them feel less pain. With psychology, I help them understand themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd with drag, I make people laugh and smile for an evening. It all comes back to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balancing these careers isn\u2019t easy. Some months he performs 14 gigs on top of his work in the gym. But Steele thrives on the chaos.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m completely ADHD, I need to be busy,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I\u2019m not training someone, I\u2019m making a dress, re-styling a wig, or learning songs.\u201d<\/p>\n
With rugby icons for a father and grandfather, Steele could easily have felt boxed in by expectation.<\/p>\n
Instead, he\u2019s found a way to channel the same charisma and love of entertaining into a different form.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad has always been one of my biggest advocates,\u201d Steele says.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never made a big fuss about it \u2013 just, \u2018What else am I supposed to do? You\u2019re my son.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_rbp_mai140917scott2970JPG.jpg\")
Scott Quinnell(Image: Rob Browne)<\/p>\n
In fact, Scott Quinnell\u2019s own career pivot \u2013 from rugby player to successful TV personality and motivational speaker \u2013 seems to have inspired Steele.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always said, my dad\u2019s a drag queen without the wig,\u201d Steele jokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has this superpower of identifying people in a room for a laugh and keeping everyone\u2019s attention. I\u2019ve probably inherited that. I could never do a scripted three-hour show, and neither could he. We\u2019re at our best when we\u2019re being authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the success of TV shows like RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race, drag still seems to provoke negativity in some circles,<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think my dad ever saw it as needing his acceptance,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him, it was just obvious \u2013 I\u2019m his son, of course he supports me. If he acted any other way, he\u2019d be a bit of a prat!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Craig](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-947407.jpg\")
Craig Quinnell and Scott Quinnell of Wales celebrate victory over France in 2001<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like the idea of having just one stream of income \u2013 I\u2019d get bored. Maybe I\u2019ll go back and do a PhD in psychology, maybe I\u2019ll end up on TV. I like to live in the moment and diversify.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/a><\/p>\nLadies Day is known for its glamour, but Heidi Heights promises to take it up a notch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be a laugh from start to finish,\u201d Steele says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want everyone to leave smiling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steele Quinnell has landed a big gig this week and explains how he’s ended up taking a very…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,41441,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-81815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-scott-quinnell","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Steele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Steele-Quinnell-2-1.jpg\")
Steele Quinnell as his alter ego Heidi Heights(Image: Steele Quinnell)<\/p>\n![\"Steele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Steele-Quinnell-6.jpg\")
Steele Quinnell, as he is off stage(Image: Steele Quinnell)<\/p>\n