Canada’s Drag Race Season 2: Meet the Queens
David Farnor | On 10, Dec 2021
RuPaul’s Drag Race is returning to Canada this December, and BBC Three will once again be the UK TV home of the contest.
Following the success of Season 1, a host of new Queens will compete to become Canada’s next Drag Race Superstar. Over 10 weeks, the 12 Queens will face challenges in singing, dancing, acting, impersonation, costume making and improvisation, in attempts to prove their drag race prowess. Hoping to impress the judges, they will do their best to avoid being one of the bottom two Queens facing a lip sync for their life and elimination from the competition.
OG judge Brooke Lynn Hytes will be joined on the panel by a line-up of entertainment industry experts, including Brad Goreski, Amanda Brugel, and Traci Melchor, as well as a celebrity guest each week.
Season 2 will drop as a 10-part box set all at one on BBC iPlayer on 17th December. It will also be joined by an anniversary episode: Canada’s First Drag Superstar, Priyanka, looking back at all the highlights of Season 1.
In the meantime, get to know this year’s queens:
Adriana
29, Québec City, QC
Adriana immigrated to Canada from Colombia to join her mother at 16. She moved to Québec City not knowing how to speak English or French. Adriana is known for her very sexy, polished and versatile drag. She has been the star in many Québec City fetish events and is a 3x time winner of Québec’s Drag Artist of the Year.
She loves working with dancers and creating conceptual production numbers, which have given her three awards for Best Drag Production Number in Montréal and Québec City. She started as a backup dancer for other queens, then after becoming a Queen herself, she became the Artistic Director of Le Drague in Québec City.
In her own words…
“Doing drag makes me feel that I can do anything! All my life I struggled to find something I was good at. Many times I thought I had no talent and no confidence to become the star that I have always wanted to be. Drag let me see how amazing I really am. Now, I constantly surprise audiences and leave them asking for more every time”.
Beth
24, Vancouver, BC
Beth is a west coast queen who mixes old school sex appeal with a modern twist. She has been a Semi-finalist in both Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar and Mr/Miss Cobalt competitions.
Beth is a proud Métis Queen who discovered more about their indigenous side in middle school. She has 3 brothers, including a twin brother. Out of drag, Beth keeps busy working in the hair industry.
In her own words…
“Drag is for any human, or even non-human, who wants to say F#%& YOU to gender stereotypes. It’s about celebrating who we are or even who we’re not and being whoever we wanna be. Drag is whatever”.
Eve 6000
29, Toronto, ON
Eve 6000 has strong opinions on just about everything! This Toronto Queen recognises she can be polarising and she is not afraid to speak out and speak up. She works hard in designing and executing polished looks and she feels very confident in those skills.
Eve 6000 currently holds the title of Miss Angel City Continental Plus 2021. She is also an amazing illustrator whose work can be seen on merchandise for many of her follow Queens.
In her own words…
“As a trans non-binary artist, drag is all about expressing the femininity that I wasn’t allowed to express growing up. Drag is a tool that we can all use to express our true selves and be seen as we want to be seen”.
Gia Metric
29, Vancouver, BC
Gia Metric started her drag career in Toronto but eventually settled in Vancouver where she is one of the city’s most well-known queens. She has won major crowns as Vancouver’s Entertainer of the Year in 2016 and Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar in 2018. She’s also walked in New York Fashion Week in 2019.
Her drag is based on authenticity. She has tried to please others in the past but has come to realise that the best drag is what feels good to her. Gia Metric’s drag can be quirky, but her level of polish and talent is always undeniable!
In her own words…
“Canada’s Drag Race is a sling shot that catapults artists to a platform seen by a global audience. I’ve been performing in my bedroom ever since I can remember, and now I get to perform in front of the world. I still can’t believe I’m a drag race girl! Mom, I’m a superstar!”
Icesis Couture
34, Ottawa, ON
Icesis Couture is one of the top queens in Ottawa and won Miss Capital Pride 2020. She has two drag children, one is her biological brother!
She is a true designer at heart, making 90% of everything she wears and also styling her own costumes, wigs, jewellery and anything else to complete her looks. Icesis Couture has El Salvadorian roots and is half Hispanic; her family are her biggest supporters!
In her own words…
“My pure love for the art form of drag and the creative outlet it provides me fuels me to keep evolving, not only as an artist but as a person. Drag has shown me that it is okay to be different, it’s okay to have a voice, it’s okay to just be me. To me drag means everything because without it I wouldn’t have found my own strength”.
Kendall Gender
30, Vancouver, BC
Kendall Gender is a performer, host, model and lgbtqia2s+ activist. As a biracial artist, Kendall started the show ‘VISIBLE’ which is designed as a platform to raise money and awareness for visible minorities. In 2020 alone, she raised more than $25,000 for various Canadian charities.
She was the first drag performer to perform during a halftime show at the Rugby 7’s game, performing for a crowd of 50,000 people. Kendall has acquired many titles in her drag career such as Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar and Empress of Vancouver.
Kendall Gender is 6 years sober and an advocate for addiction recovery; she credits drag as her saving grace.
In her own words…
“Drag to me is a celebration. It is about finding a way to uplift through anything. I have faced many adversities in my life and I truly feel like they have all led me to this moment and because I have gone through the dark parts of life, I can truly appreciate what is to come”.
Kimora Amour
34, Scarborough, ON
Kimora Amour is the Canadian Kiki ballroom scenes First Female Figure Bizarre. She was crowned Miss Opulence 2019 and has held the title of Female Figure Realness of the Year in the Kiki Ballroom scene for three years in a row. Kimora is one of the first girls to come out of the Kiki Ballroom scene in Canada and go mainstream competing in pageants.
She has been a highly sought-after Carnival costume designer for the past 15 years and has won numerous awards. She was also a part of the designing team for Miss Cayman Islands national costume for the Miss Universe Pageant! While drag is her passion, by day she is a neuropathic pain management procedural nurse, so she has seen the COVID-19 pandemic up close and personal.
She is also a loving father to a teenage son with a previous partner.
In her own words…
“To me, drag is a form of artistic therapeutic storytelling where you can evoke emotions while telling the story of life. Being a part of Canada’s Drag Race is a form of validation. It means you have that little something extra that sets you apart from others. It is the GREATEST opportunity, and I’m so happy to represent the Black/Caribbean/South American communities”.
Océane Aqua-Black
35, Québec City, QC
Océane Aqua-Black is a performance queen who often hosts drag shows in many regions of Québec, including Québec City, Montreal, as well as Ottawa. She has been crowned Best Lip-Syncer of the Year in Québec City and she prides herself on being able to lip-sync in English, French, Spanish, German and Korean. She also loves K-Pop!
Being able to express herself as a drag artist has made her feel confident being her weird, goofy self. Fun fact – she is obsessed with goats and considers them her spirit animal!
In her own words…
“For me, Canada’s Drag Race is not just a competition show, it’s a wonderful platform where everybody can enjoy my talent and creativity! More importantly, I think drag queens give an important voice to the LGBTQ+ community because we represent their superheroes. I hope people will be able to relate to us and we can act as an inspiration to make the world a magical place”.
Pythia
26, Montréal, QC
Pythia grew up in Greece and moved to Canada at age 14. Pythia posted an impersonation of Miley Cyrus, which Miley loved so much that she sent her a DM and reposted the video!
Outside of drag, Pythia is a costume designer, as well as makeup artist for film and theatre. Pythia’s makeup tutorial has been featured in Cosmopolitan for their Cosmo Queens project. She identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns out of drag.
In her own words…
“Drag for me is the closest thing we have to magic and a method to completely unpack and destroy gender. It grants me the ability to transfigure and embody all of my passions, whether it be theatre, fashion or art, and merge them into one physical form as Pythia. I am not a “female impersonator,” I am the image of my imagination, a storyteller and a fantasy made into reality”.
Stephanie Prince
24, Calgary, AB
Originally from the Philippines, Stephanie Prince is a self-proclaimed singing assassin and rapstress; she feels sorry for any girl who has to lip-sync against her. Stephanie’s energy and optimistic outlook is infectious and translates into lots of noise at her live performances!
Stephanie believes in the power of the universe and its manifestations.
In her own words…
“It’s very exciting to be a part of Canada’s Drag Race. The only part of the competition I’m worried about is how jealous the other girls will be of my beauty!”
Suki Doll
27, Montréal, QC
Tradition is in Suki’s DNA, her upbringing in a family of eight embedded in her roots deeper than ever. Drag, fashionista and a sought-after designer, her high-speed hands and witty fashion sense is simply unparalleled!
Prideful and grounded, Suki wants to embody the heightened emblem of the AAPI community for representation in arts and culture.
In her own words…
“C’est moi…Suko Doll, excruciatingly delicious and opulent! Mouahhh”.
Synthia Kiss
29, Vancouver, BC
Synthia Kiss competed in her first drag show in 2016, which she won unexpectedly, beating more experienced queens in the city #darkhorse
She has a degree in Fashion Design and has worked on the design teams for Kit and Ace and MEC. She loves to design, pattern, and construct her own drag costumes. She has been performing since she was a child, being part of local theatre groups and dance troupes so she knows her ways around a, “5, 6, 7, 8”.
She is a lover of comedy and quick wit, so expect some fierce improv!
In her own words…
“Synthia Kiss is an homage to all the powerful, talented and funny women in my life – it’s a complete honour to walk a mile in their high heels, I’ll give them back soon, I swear!”
Canada’s Drag Race is available on BBC iPlayer until December 2022
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