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''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 ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
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), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...
'' 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...
(formerly), 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 was founded in November 2017, by Randy Barbato and ...
. It was the fourth international version of the ''Drag Race'' franchise to be announced, following '' Drag Race Thailand'', '' The Switch Drag Race'' (Chile) and '' RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. ''Canada's Drag Race'' was the first English-language iteration of ''Drag Race'' not to be hosted by
RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...
, 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 Brooke Lynn Hytes is the stage name of Brock Edward Hayhoe (born March 10, 1986), a Canadian-American drag queen, ballet dancer, and television personality. After working as a dancer with Cape Town City Ballet and Les Ballets Trockadero de Mont ...
, along with judges Brad Goreski and Traci Melchor. Past judges include Amanda Brugel,
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) a ...
, and Stacey McKenzie. 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 18
Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () 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) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
.


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
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...
in the United Kingdom. Early coverage of the production announcement indicated that the series would also air on
OutTV OUTtv is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. The brand focuses on general entertainment and lifestyle programming serving Canadian and international LGBT+ communities. The ...
; 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 appeared on many oth ...
would join production as
showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over 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. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', January 7, 2021.
In March 2021, it was announced that Bowyer-Chapman would not be returning 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 would 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 territories imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other travel restrictions for citizens of or recent travelers to the most affected areas. Some countries and territories imposed global restric ...
. The second season judging panel included fashion stylist Brad Goreski, actress Amanda Brugel, and broadcaster and Season 1 "Squirrel Friend" Traci Melchor.


Season 3

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


Season 4

A fourth season was announced in November 2022, with casting opened November 1 and closed November 22, with Brooke Lynn Hytes, Goreski, and Melchor expected to return to the judging panel. The cast was officially announced on October 18, 2023 and the season premiered on November 16, 2023.


Season 5

A fifth season was announced on November 9, 2023, with casting running throughout November. It was open to any Canadian citizens or permanent residents who were 19 on November 1, 2023. The cast was announced on October 23, 2024, and the season premiered on November 21, 2024.


Season 6

A sixth season was announced on October 31, 2024 with casting opened on the same day.


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
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) a ...
and fashion model Stacey McKenzie. Bell Media personality Traci Melchor 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. Brooke Lynn 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 online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', May 11, 2020.
In March 2021 Brooke Lynn 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, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
-related challenges" that meant she was unable to travel to Canada to film the season. The following day on June 29, 2021, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski and actress and season one guest host Amanda Brugel 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. Brooke Lynn Hytes, Goreski and Melchor returned as judges for the third, fourth and fifth seasons.


Series overview


Contestants

There have been a total of 47 contestants featured in four seasons of ''Canada's Drag Race'' so far with Priyanka, Icesis Couture, Gisèle Lullaby,
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
and The Virgo Queen being crowned Canada's Next Drag Superstar. Contestants have returned to compete on other editions of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, including on '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World'', ''
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...
'', and ''
RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars'' is a television series, which premiered on August 16, 2024 and ended on October 25, 2024. On July 15, 2024, the cast was announced, consisting of 12 contestants from various ''Drag Race'' adaptations and ...
''.


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 a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...
events for both
Pride Toronto Pride Toronto is an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in June each year to celebrate the LGBTQ community in the Greater Toronto Area. The centre of the festival is the city's Church and Wellesley village, while the parade and m ...
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 COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...
. 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.


Controversies

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 technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
. 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 former 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 ...
's 2010 single "
Happiness Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...
" 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 legal 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, ...
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 Drive-in theater, movie theater) where one can driving, drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by ...
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 dise ...
restrictions remaining in place during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. 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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
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.


Spin-offs


''Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World''

On June 9, 2022 Crave officially announced the spin-off series ''Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World'' that would premiere in late 2022. The series follows '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World'' as the second "International All Stars" edition of the franchise, bringing competitors from various international editions of the franchise. Brooke Lynn Hytes, Goreski, and Melchor were also announced to be judging the series. The cast was announced on October 17, 2022 and features four queens who originally competed on the first and second seasons of ''Canada's Drag Race.'' It also included competitors who were previously featured in ''
RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...
,
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...
, RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', and ''
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under ''Drag Race Down Under'' (formerly ''RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under'') is a reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name produced by World of Wonder and Warner Bros. International Television Pr ...
.'' The first season of the series premiered on November 18, 2022 and concluded on December 23, 2022. A second season was announced on June 6, 2023. It will air in 2024.


''Slaycation''

Another spin-off of the series titled '' Slaycation'' was announced in September 2023 at the Content Canada conference. The series will feature six contestants from across the ''Drag Race'' franchise while they vacation in a Canadian winter cabin, participate in activities, and organize a drag performance for the local community. The series will be produced by World of Wonder, Crave, and
Blue Ant Media Blue Ant Media Inc. is a Canadian broadcasting and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company was founded by Michael MacMillan and formed in 2011 following the acquisition of Glassbox Television. Its name was chosen in reference ...
and will air in English and French on Crave in Canada and
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 was founded in November 2017, by Randy Barbato and ...
globally.


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. It has won 25
Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () 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) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
including Best Reality/Competition Program or Series on three occasions and every Best Casting, Non-fiction award since its creation at the 2022 ceremony.


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Canada, LGBTQ, Television 2020 Canadian television series debuts 2020s Canadian LGBTQ-related reality television series Canadian television series based on American television series Crave (TV network) original programming Television series by Blue Ant Studios Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Reality Series winners Transgender-related television shows