The first season of ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to t ...

'' premiered on July 2, 2020. The cast was announced on May 14, 2020. The winner of the first season of ''Canada’s Drag Race'' was Priyanka, with

Rita Baga Rita Baga (born Jean-François Guevremont) is a Canadian drag queen and television personality from Montreal, Quebec.Hugo Dumas"La future reine québécoise du Nord?". ''La Presse'', August 19, 2020. She is best known as a top three finalist in ...

and

Scarlett BoBo Scarlett BoBo is the stage name of Matthew Cameron (born December 1, 1989), a Canadian television personality and drag queen most noted as a finalist in the first season of the reality competition series '' Canada's Drag Race'' in 2020. Career ...

as runners-up. The season consisted of ten one-hour episodes. The Season 1 queens participated in a ''Canada's Drag Race Anniversary Extravaganza'' reunion special, airing on Crave September 6, 2021, in advance of the second season launch. In January 2022, it was announced that Jimbo and

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

would appear as contestants on '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World''. Lemon finished in ninth place, while Jimbo placed seventh overall. In October 2022 Rita Baga was announced as a contestant on the first season of '' Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World'' where she finished as a finalist. On July 21, 2023, Jimbo was declared the winner of the eighth season of ''

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, ...

''. In August 2024, it was announced that

would appear as a contestant on the second season of '' Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World'' where she finished as the winner of the season.

Production

Casting occurred in mid-2019 with production starting in fall 2019. On September 26, 2019, it was announced that the judges panel will include

RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 The eleventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' aired on VH1 from February 28, 2019, to May 30, 2019. The cast featured fourteen new queens and one returning queen; at the time of its premiere, Season 11 featured the largest cast of the franchise ...

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 ...

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

."Three fabulous judges, and one squirrel friend, are ready to preside over ‘Canada’s Drag Race’"
. '' eTalk'', September 26, 2019. Bell Media personality Traci Melchor also appeared as a recurring cast member, with the title "Canada's Squirrel Friend"; her role 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 appeared as the special guest host for the season finale. The series was shot in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

Contestants

''Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.'' ;Notes

Contestant progress

Lip syncs

Legend:

Guest hosts

The guest host of a ''Canada's Drag Race'' episode performs much of RuPaul's role in a regular Ru-hosted season, including the introductions to the runway and Lip Sync for Your Life segments, and delivers commentary as a judge, but does not have a direct say in determining the winners or losers of the challenges and lip-syncs. Season 1 guest hosts included: *

Elisha Cuthbert Elisha Ann Cuthbert (; born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress. As a child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra on ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' and co-hosted '' Popular Mechanics for Kids''. She made her feature- ...

, actress *

Jade Hassouné Jade Hassouné (born 18 February 1991) is a Canadian actor, dancer and singer. He is known for his roles as Meliorn in the US television series ''Shadowhunters'' and as Prince Ahmed Al Saeed in the Canadian series '' Heartland''. Under the pseud ...

, actor, dancer and singer *

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

, singer-songwriter and actress * Evan Biddell, designer * Mary Walsh, actress, comedian and actor *

Tom Green Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian and American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted '' The Tom Green Show'', whi ...

, comedian and actor *

Allie X Alexandra Ashley Hughes (born 31 July 1985), known by her stage name Allie X, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and visual artist. She began her career as an indie pop artist in Toronto in the mid-2000s, playing with local bands and recording se ...

, singer-songwriter *

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 ...

, actress *

Michelle Visage Michelle Visage (born Michelle Lynn Shupack, September 20, 1968) is an American television personality, singer, broadcaster, producer, and actress. She gained recognition as a member of the dance-pop group Seduction (group), Seduction, who char ...

, American singer, TV personality and main judge on ''

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 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 ...

'' 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 ...

'' * Traci Melchor, television personality

Special guests

Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage. Episode 1 *Matt Barnes, photographer Episode 3 and 10 *

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

, singer *

Hollywood Jade Jade Anderson (born January 4, 1984), known professionally as Hollywood Jade, is a Canadian dancer and choreographer best known for his regular appearances on the reality television series ''Canada's Drag Race''. He began his career as a chore ...

, choreographer Episode 5 * Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, interior decorators and television presenters Episode 6 *

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

, contestant on the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of ''

'' Episode 7 *

Stefan Brogren Stefan Brogren (born 21 April 1972) is a Canadian actor, director, and producer who is best known for his mainstay role as Archie "Snake" Simpson in the ''Degrassi'' television franchise. First appearing as a student in the second series ''Deg ...

, actor and producer *

Michelle DuBarry Michelle DuBarry is the stage name of Russell Alldread (born November 23, 1931), a Canadian drag queen,Sabrina Jalees Sabrina Jalees (born April 19, 1985) is a Canadian comedian, actress, and writer. She has written for various series, and starred as a main cast member alongside Patricia Heaton in the 2019 TV comedy series ''Carol's Second Act.'' Early life and ...

, comedian

Episodes

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.

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. Brooke Lynn Hytes hosted, and 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 exposure. Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo, Rita Baga and Jimbo also participated in an online panel as part of the 2020 Just for Laughs festival.Jenelle Riley
"For Montreal’s Just for Laughs, the Show Will Go On(line)"
. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', October 2, 2020.

Awards

References

{{Canada's Drag Race 2020 Canadian television seasons 2020 LGBTQ-related television 1 Television shows filmed in Hamilton, Ontario