Chucky Bartolo (born Andrew Bartolo; 5 July 1993) is a Maltese stand-up comedian and drag queen. [1] Currently based between Malta and Glasgow, [2] his career breakthrough came as a writer and journalist [3] for Lovin Malta after years of garnering a small following on YouTube as a vlogger. [4] Bartolo is openly gay and uses his platform to speak out against hate speech [5] and fight for reclamation of derogatory slurs. [6]
Since November 2018, he has written and starred in four stand-up specials, [7] [8] [9] [1] and was the closing speaker of TEDx University of Malta's 2019 edition, 'Quirks'. [10] In 2018, Bartolo also starred as the Dame in Malta's National Theatre (Teatru Malta)'s first pantomime [11] and returned to the role in 2019 [12] and 2020. To comply with COVID-19 safety regulations, the pantomime was moved to air on select national radio stations [13] and is the only one taking place on the island in 2020.
In 2020, Bartolo also collaborated with the Government of Malta's Children's Festival, Żigużajg, to put on a digital show encouraging children to write creative stories and bring a modern twist to old fairytales. [14] The digital programme was then brought to Malta as a live theatre production of the same name, "Fab Fantasy Fables with Chucky", in 2022. [15]
Bartolo was the narrator and voice-over artist of the first-ever season of reality TV drama Love Island Malta [16] which aired in 2023. He remains in this role, with the upcoming Season 4 of the show airing May 2026. [17]
In September 2023, Bartolo hosted and performed at EuroPride 2023's official drag show, The Drag Spectacular, in Valletta. [18]
Following a short break from pantomimes, December 2024 saw Bartolo reprised the role of Dame in their one-man pantomime "Chucky's Christmas Cracker - A Solo Panto Adventure". [19] The show, held at Spazju Kreattiv, saw Bartolo play all the characters in the performance using costume, voice and wig changes to tell the full story. [20] Bartolo returned to Spazju Kreattiv in 2025 with another one-man show under the new name "Chucky's Solo Panto". [21] [22]
In October 2025 Bartolo opened Sirena, Malta's first dedicated drag bar. [23] Located in Sliema, Bartolo hosts and performs weekly drag shows, [23] while also using the space to continue their advocacy work against anti-LGBT hate speech and violence. [24]