Canada's Drag Race
Canada's Drag Race is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series RuPaul's Drag Race, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to the American version, the show features a crop of Canadian drag queens as they compete for a grand prize of $100,000, a year of hotel stays courtesy of Hilton, and the title of "Canada's First Drag Superstar". The series airs on Crave in Canada, and worldwide on WOW Presents Plus.
It was the fourth international version of the Drag Race franchise to be announced, following Drag Race Thailand, The Switch Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race UK; two months after the announcement of the Canadian version, Drag Race Australia was also announced. Canada's Drag Race will be the first English-language incarnation of Drag Race to not be hosted by RuPaul, although RuPaul does appear in a video message to the contestants in every episode, and narrates the title sequence.
The show premiered on July 2, 2020. The cast was announced on May 14, 2020.
Production
Casting occurred in mid-2019 with production scheduled to start in fall 2019. The inaugural season will consist of ten one-hour episodes.In June 2020 it was announced that the series will be carried by BBC Three in the United Kingdom.
Early coverage of the production announcement indicated that the series would also air on OutTV, although as of three weeks after the show's premiere on Crave it has not aired on that channel.
In the United States the series premiered on WOW Presents Plus, the streaming service of RuPaul's Drag Race production company World of Wonder, concurrently with its Canadian debut. It was subsequently added to the schedule of Logo TV, premiering on that service on July 27, 2020.
Judges
On September 26, 2019, it was announced that the judges panel will include RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes, actor Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and fashion model Stacey McKenzie. Bell Media personality Traci Melchor will appear as a recurring cast member, with the title "Canada's Squirrel Friend." Hytes will be the first prior competitor in the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise to appear on the judge's panel on any edition of the show.Guest hosts
Various people have been announced as appearing on the show in guest capacities, although sources have been unclear in some cases about whether the person appears as a guest host or in some other capacity.- Elisha Cuthbert
- Jade Hassouné
- Deborah Cox
- Evan Biddell
- Mary Walsh
- Tom Green
- Stefan Brogren
- Amanda Brugel
- Crystal
- Michelle DuBarry
- Michelle Visage
- Allie X
Special guests
Episode 1–
- RuPaul
Episode 3
- Ralph
- Hollywood Jade
Episode 5
- Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan.
Contestants
Contestant | Age | Hometown | Outcome |
BOA | 24 | Windsor, Ontario | |
Ilona Verley | 24 | Vancouver, British Columbia | |
Jimbo | 36 | Victoria, British Columbia | |
Lemon | 23 | New York City, New York | |
Priyanka | 28 | Toronto, Ontario | |
Rita Baga | 32 | Montreal, Quebec | |
Scarlett BoBo | 29 | Toronto, Ontario | |
Kiara | 22 | Montreal, Quebec | 8th Place |
Tynomi Banks | 38 | Toronto, Ontario | 9th Place |
Anastarzia Anaquway | 37 | East York, Ontario | 10th Place |
Kyne | 21 | Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario | 11th Place |
Juice Boxx | 30 | Essex, Ontario | 12th Place |