ONE of Brighton’s best-known drag queens has sued the bosses of a fledgling model contest for his fee for hosting their show.

A county court judge ordered Next Hot Model UK bosses Simon Darcy Abbott and Fatosh Gunaydan to pay Steve Rocco his £400 fee – but rejected his claim for a further £2,100.

Mr Rocco, who performs and entertains around Brighton under his stage name Stephanie Starlet, filed his claim in Brighton County Court weeks after not getting paid as agreed for hosting the event at the Hilton Metropole in King’s Road, last June 6.

Speaking after last week’s ruling, he said: “When they first started this event it was at a little bar in Worthing, and I put all my energy into to make it a bigger event.

“I helped take it to another level with all of my contacts. For me the price of doing the event was more than the fee, because I had a very amazing dress custom-made.

“I also could not pay people I owed money to.”

Mr Abbott, 37, from Lancing, said he never disputed the fee but said Mr Rocco started attacking the company on Facebook and he wanted him to sign something agreeing to stop doing so before handing over the money.

He said after Mr Rocco declined that, he then offered him the fee as long as he signed something saying he had received it.

Mr Abbott added he pre-paid most people working at the show but told others there would be a delay as clothes and equipment had been stolen at the hotel.

Mr Rocco said he was not told about the theft and denies attacking the company on Facebook at the time, stating that he posted one comment alluding to the argument but did not name the company or the show.

He said he did not want to sign as requested by Mr Abbott because he was concerned it would tie him into an agreement with a limited company.

A Sussex Police spokesman said Justin Cooke, 32, of Frimley Close, Brighton, pleaded guilty to theft by finding and theft by an employee from the Hilton Metropole Hotel on June 6.

Next Hot Model

  • Founded in 2012, the contest was held last year in the Hilton hotel, Brighton; 
  • In 2012 ladyboy Angkookrat Rawangnam came second; 
  • Last year winners were taken on a photo-shoot to the Seychelles and given a contract with a fashion agency; 
  • Stephanie Starlet, real name Steve Rocco, hosts and performs around Brighton; 
  • She is Miss Alternative Brighton and was voted Scene Personality of the Year in 2011 by the readers of G-Scene magazine.