''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

television series based on the American series ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, 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 and the title of "Canada's Next Drag Superstar". The series airs on Crave in Canada, the United Kingdom's

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

, and worldwide on

WOW Presents Plus WOW Presents Plus (also called World of Wonder Presents Plus or WOWPresents+) is a subscription-based streaming service owned by production company, World of Wonder. The subscription service is founded in November 2017, by Randy Barbato and F ...

. It was the fourth international version of the ''Drag Race'' franchise to be announced, following '' Drag Race Thailand'', ''

The Switch Drag Race ''The Switch Drag Race'' is a Chilean reality competition television series, presented by Mega as a Chilean version of the hit American show ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The purpose of the series is to find Chile’s top ''transformista'' (''transfor ...

'' (Chile) and ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

''; two months after the announcement of the Canadian version, ''

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under ''RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under'' is a reality competition streaming television series based on the American television series of the same name produced by World of Wonder and Warner Bros. International Television Production New Zealand. The s ...

'' was also announced. ''Canada's Drag Race'' was the first English-language iteration of ''Drag Race'' to not be hosted by

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

, although RuPaul does appear in video messages to the contestants, and narrates the title sequence. The series is hosted by ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes, along with judges

Brad Goreski Brad Goreski (born August 15, 1977) is a Canadian-American celebrity fashion stylist and television personality. In 2015, he joined ''Fashion Police'' as a new co-host. Since 2021, he has been one of the regular judges on ''Canada's Drag Race''. ...

and

Traci Melchor Traci Melchor is a Canadian television personality. She is known for her role as an entertainment reporter for CTV's series '' etalk'' and as a judge of the reality competition series ''Canada's Drag Race''. Melchor is also the former co-host o ...

. Past judges include

Amanda Brugel Amanda Brugel (born March 24, 1978) is a Canadian actress. Born and raised in Pointe-Claire (a suburb of Montreal), Quebec, she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Vendetta'' (1999). This was followed by roles in the comedy film ''A Diva's C ...

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (born October 21, 1984) is a Canadian actor, model, and television personality. He is known for appearances in films and television, most notably as Jay in the Lifetime dark comedy-drama series ''Unreal'' (2015–2018) and ...

, and

Stacey McKenzie Stacey McKenzie (born March 27, 1977) is a Jamaican-born Canadian model, runway coach, motivational speaker, and television personality. McKenzie has been a judge on the reality television shows ''America's Next Top Model'', ''Canada's Next Top Mod ...

. The first episode of the first season premiered on July 2, 2020. The cast was announced on May 14, 2020. A third season was announced on November 10, 2021 and premiered on July 14, 2022. The series has been critically acclaimed and has won 12

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

Production

Season 1

Casting occurred in mid-2019 with production starting in fall 2019. The inaugural season consisted of ten one-hour episodes. In June 2020 it was announced that the series would be carried by

in the United Kingdom. Early coverage of the production announcement indicated that the series would also air on

OutTV OutTV (stylized OUTtv) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language specialty channel that was launched in September 2001. It broadcasts general entertainment and lifestyle programming aimed at the LGBT community. The network is owned b ...

; although that channel did not simulcast the series in first run, it was later announced on December 3 that there would be a marathon of the series on December 5, along with all episodes being available for streaming as of December 3, on OutTV's subscription service, OutTV Go. 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 Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...

, premiering on that service on July 27, 2020. In August 2021, it was announced that the Season 1 queens would be featured in a ''Canada's Drag Race Anniversary Extravaganza'' reunion special, airing on Crave September 6, 2021 in advance of the second season launch. The special included the premiere of a new music video from Priyanka's '' Taste Test'' EP, as well as an introduction to the second season judging panel.

Season 2

In January 2021, it was announced that the show was renewed for a second season. At the same time, it was announced that comedian and producer

Trevor Boris Trevor Boris (born September 10, 1980) is a Canadian comedian, writer and television producer. Television work Boris is one of the stars of MuchMusic's '' Video on Trial'', and is also a star of '' Stars Gone Wild''. He has also appeared on ma ...

will join production as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

in the second season.Debra Yeo
"‘Canada’s Drag Race’ will be back for Season 2"
. ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', January 7, 2021. In March 2021, it was announced that Bowyer-Chapman will not return as a judge in the second season, due to a scheduling conflict with another project he is working on. In June 2021, it was announced that McKenzie will not return as a judge in the second season, due to

travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other travel restrictions for citizens of or recent travelers to the most affected areas. Some countries and regions imposed global restrictions th ...

. The second season judging panel included fashion stylist

, actress

, and broadcaster and Season 1 "Squirrel Friend"

Season 3

For the third season, the judges panel was re-worked again, consisting of only Hytes, Goreski, and Melchor.

Season 4

A fourth season was announced in November 2022, expected to air in 2023.

Judges

On September 26, 2019, it was announced that the judging panel for the first season would include ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes, actor

and fashion model

. Bell Media personality

appears as a recurring cast member, with the title "Canada's Squirrel Friend"; her role in the first season entailed participatory support in challenges, including co-judging the '' Canada Gay-M'' mini-challenge, hosting a '' sheTalk'' red carpet segment prior to Snatch Game, and serving as one of the judges of the Miss Loose Jaw pageant. Melchor also guest hosted the season finale. Hytes was the first prior competitor in the ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' franchise to appear on the judge's panel on any edition of the show.Joey Nolfi
"Canada's Drag Race first look serves Canadian bacon with a side of fish"
. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', May 11, 2020. In March 2021 Hytes and McKenzie announced they would be returning for the show's second season while Bowyer-Chapman would not, citing scheduling issues, writing that "unfortunately, with scheduling, things just didn't work out for him to come back this season... he'll be so missed". On June 28, 2021, a tweet from the show's official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account confirmed that, contrary to the previous announcement, McKenzie would not be returning either, blaming "

COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

-related challenges" that meant she was unable to travel to Canada to film the season. The following day on June 29, 2021, celebrity stylist

and actress and season one guest host

were announced to be joining the panel to replace Bowyer-Chapman and McKenzie, with "Canada's Squirrel Friend" Melchor also becoming a judge and alternating weekly with Brugel. Hytes, Goreski and Melchor returned as judges for the third season.

Contestants

There have been a total of 36 contestants featured on ''Canada's Drag Race''.

Series overview

Post-production

Drag Ball and Drag Superstars

Separately from the production of the series, all of the queens from the season participated in

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

events for both

Pride Toronto Pride Toronto is an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in June each year. A celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area, it is one of the largest organized gay pride festivals in the world, fea ...

and Fierté Montreal, presented as online streaming specials due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

. The Toronto event, ''Drag Ball presented by Crave'', was streamed on June 27, and the Montreal event, ''Drag Superstars'', was streamed on August 14. The Toronto special was directly produced by Crave; the Montreal event was produced by a separate company, but received some production assistance and sponsorship from Crave and the ''Canada's Drag Race'' production team.

Controversy

During the series run, producers and competing queens spoke out against online bullying, after Bowyer-Chapman and some of the competing queens were subjected to campaigns of harassment on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. Bowyer-Chapman's critics focused on purportedly unfair comments in his role as a judge, while several queens were attacked for simply having done better in challenges or lipsyncs than other more popular queens with bigger fanbases. In the second season, the show's use of KAPRI's cover of

Alexis Jordan Alexis Jordan (born April 7, 1992) is an American singer and actress from Columbia, South Carolina. Jordan rose to fame as a contestant on the first season of ''America's Got Talent'' in 2006 at the age of 14. After being eliminated from the sho ...

's 2010 single "

Happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

" as a lip sync number faced some discussion among fans as KAPRI's recording was unlocatable on any music store or streaming platform. The situation led to unconfirmed speculation that the show had in fact directly commissioned a new cover of the song after using Jordan's original recording during production but then running into a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

clearance issue.

Canada's Drag Race Live at the Drive-In

Following the conclusion of the season, the cast announced a cross-Canada tour, to be performed at

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

venues due to the ongoing

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

restrictions remaining in place during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Brooke Lynn Hytes hosted, with Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo and Rita Baga were scheduled to appear at every date on the tour, while other cast members would perform at selected dates based on availability; ultimately, however, both Priyanka and Brooke Lynn Hytes had to miss a couple of later dates after being forced to self-isolate due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

exposure. Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo, Rita Baga and Jimbo also participated in an online panel as part of the 2020 Just for Laughs festival. The second season queens are also slated to undertake their own group tour in 2022.

Discography

Reception

In its December 2020 year in review, the Canadian film and television industry magazine '' Playback'' named ''Canada's Drag Race'' the Unscripted Series of the Year.Kelly Townsend
"Unscripted Series of the Year 2020: Canada’s Drag Race: Viral moments and a spotlight on Canada's unique drag culture made Canada's Drag Race an unquestionable hit for Crave and producer Blue Ant Studios"
. '' Playback'', December 15, 2020. The show was the highest-rated original production in Crave's history.

Awards

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Canada, LGBT, Television 2020 Canadian television series debuts 2020s Canadian LGBT-related television series 2020s Canadian reality television series 2020s LGBT-related reality television series Canadian television series based on American television series Crave original programming Television series by Blue Ant Studios WOW Presents Plus original programming Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Reality Series winners Canadian LGBT-related reality television series