Canada's Drag Race season 1


The first season of Canada's Drag Race 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 and Scarlett BoBo 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.
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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 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes, actor Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and fashion model Stacey McKenzie. 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.

Contestants

Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
ContestantAgeHometownOutcome
Priyanka28Toronto, Ontario
Rita Baga32Montreal, Quebec
Scarlett BoBo29Toronto, Ontario
Jimbo36Victoria, British Columbia4th place
Lemon23New York City, United States5th place
Ilona Verley24Vancouver, British Columbia6th place
BOA24Windsor, Ontario7th place
Kiara22Montreal, Quebec8th place
Tynomi Banks38Toronto, Ontario9th place
Anastarzia Anaquway37East York, Ontario10th place
Kyne21Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario11th place
Juice Boxx31Essex, Ontario12th place

;Notes

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:

Special guests

Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.
Episode 1
  • Matt Barnes, photographer
Episode 3 and 10
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 9

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 events for both Pride Toronto and Fierté Montreal, presented as online streaming specials due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. 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 venues due to the ongoing social distancing 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.