Betty Legs Diamond

The act

Betty Legs Diamond is a female impersonator in the grand showbiz tradition: big gowns, bigger feathers, dance routines that show off the legs in her name, and comedy delivered with a wink. She is a dancer first. The character was born in London while her creator was dancing in a West End musical, and her shows are built around choreographed production numbers with an ensemble of dancers, broken up with comedy, chat and audience interaction. Her shows describe the mix simply as comedy, dance and performance, and feature routines such as a King and I number and a Do-Re-Mi sequence alongside new material.

She is a link between the old variety stars of Blackpool and the modern drag scene. Her style owes more to the glamour of the great female impersonators than to the reality-TV look of today, and it is no accident that her original shows filled a former shopfront with queues of coach parties and hen nights.

Career highlights

• London beginnings. Betty was created in the 1980s, between shows of a West End musical at the Palace Theatre. She was soon booked nightly by London's top cabaret rooms, and she worked in the West End for more than ten years, including a double act called Betty Legs Diamond and Dixie.
• Funny Girls, 1994. When Basil Newby opened Funny Girls on Queen Street in July 1994, Betty created the first show and became its star, choreographer and director. She was there on opening night and led the company for many years.
• Royal Variety. Betty was the company's star during the years when Funny Girls took a ballet spoof, Swine Lake, to the Royal Variety Performance in 2005.
• Newcastle and back. She left Funny Girls in 2009 and headlined her own show at a Newcastle cabaret venue, then returned to Blackpool in 2016 to headline a new Funny Girls production.
• Touring. In 2023 she launched The Betty Legs Diamond Show as a UK theatre tour, from Aberdeen to Eastbourne, with a Blackpool date at Viva. In the same year she starred in the Funny Girls Halloween tour and brought her own show back to Funny Girls on Monday and Tuesday nights.
• Pleasure Beach. To mark 30 years in showbiz, she took a summer residency in 2024 in the Paradise Room at the Pleasure Beach, tracing her career with never-before-seen numbers, alongside Blackpool drag performers Nikky Rush and Angel Falls. She also appears in the Pleasure Beach panto each winter.
• Pride. She performed on the main stage at Blackpool Pride's 20th-anniversary festival in June 2026.
• Together Again. In 2026 she reunited with Zoe, her co-star from the 1994 opening night, for Together Again at the Central Pier Show Bar, running from June to the end of October.

Where to see her in Blackpool

Betty works mostly in seasons and tours rather than a weekly residency. In 2026 her main Blackpool show is Together Again with Zoe on Central Pier, which runs until 31 October 2026. She has also played Funny Girls, Viva, the Pleasure Beach and the Pride main stage in recent years, so watch the town's theatre and pier listings for her next season.

Times and prices can change, so check before you go.

How to follow her

Betty's shows are promoted through the venues she plays, including the piers, the Pleasure Beach and Funny Girls, and through her own social media pages under her stage name. Search for Betty Legs Diamond to find tour dates and new seasons.