Hi, Xtra audience!
It is me, Brooke Lynn Hytes, the Queen of the North,
and I am probably known best for being the first Canadian
ever on RuPaul's Drag Race and also as the
host, or one of the hosts, of Canada's Drag Race.
In season one, you knew several of the contestants.
Did you know any of the season two contestants this time
around?
Yes. In season one, I did know some of the contestants,
which made it very hard to judge them when
you have a personal relationship with them.
In season two, I didn't know
any of them quite as well.
A couple of them I knew just from working in the
scene in Canada. You get to meet a lot of people, but
there were no like actual friend friends in
there, which was really nice. And the majority of them I
had not even heard of, which was even better because I
got to go in with a completely clean,
fresh slate, which I loved.
You talk a little bit about Priyanka's year and
how she's done as the first representative from Canada for
the show.
Absolutely. I am so proud of Priyanka.
Representing your culture, first ever desi queen
on the show, and she just looked beautiful.
And she got dealt a bit of a difficult blow, winning
Drag Race, being the first winner of Canada's Drag Race,
especially in COVID, and she
did not let that stop her.
She put out four incredible music videos.
She was on the cover of magazines.
She really did everything she could,
and like I said before, like she just kind of took
that title and ran with it, and I could not be more proud
of her. Congratulations to Priyanka.
Yay!
Congratulations, Priyanka.
An absolute star, charismatic, fun.
She's really put Canada drag on the map.
She's helped elevate the show and elevate
drag in Canada to a new level.
So I am so pleased that
she was our winner because I can't think of anybody who
would have been a better first representative.
The UK edition of the show recently cast the franchise's
first cisgender woman contestant.
Could Canada be next?
Oh God, I hope so.
I am 100 percent about that.
I'm really proud of the casting we have on this season.
Actually, we have a really, really diverse, diverse cast,
and I think that's amazing.
But there is always room for improvement.
There's always room for more.
So I have nothing to do with casting, unfortunately.
So hopefully, for next season, I am absolutely
all about...I want a bearded queen, I want
some more trans representation, I want femme
representation.
I want, yeah, I want it all.
I think it's all valid. I think it's all great and it just
keeps making the show interesting and diverse.
And that's what it's all about.
Can you tell me what it was like to come back for All Stars
as a lip sync assassin?
Oh, it was so much fun
because there is really no stress.
Like yeah, I wanted to like lip sync
and do well, but like I wasn't winning anything.
I wasn't getting eliminated, like I just got to come do
my shit and then leave.
(Music)
It was really cool, it was fun, and I'm so happy I got to
do it against Raja, and I was so happy for
how well she did on that season of All Stars.
It was really, people really got to see what
she was capable of and what an incredible
queen she is, and they just didn't get that on
season 11. And I was just so happy
that they got us to the star she really is.
Who is the most famous person in your DMs?
Probably be Demi Lovato.
I met them right after
my season of Drag Race aired.
They watched my lip sync with
Yvie Oddly, the 'Sorry, Not Sorry.'.
(Music)
And they slid into my DMs and we
just became friends and started talking from then, and
they are awesome.
I love them.
Tell me about the first drag performer who really
took your breath away as an audience member.
Definitely be my drag mother, Fahrenheit.
Notice my lunge. Okay listen, let's not make it a contest because I'm highly competitive.
She is a local Toronto legend, and she's an
incredible performer and showgirl, and she was really
at the, she was like the It Girl in Toronto
when I was growing up. That's kind of really what inspired
me to start doing drag.
Your drag mother is coming up on 'Call Me Mother.'
Tell me how excited you are to see your mom
on TV. It's a great show, baby.
Oh, it makes me really happy.
She has worked so hard for so long, she's
a consummate professional.
She's so well respected and she's really put on her dues.
And for 20 years, I
think she's almost 20 years into her career, to now get
this really cool break is amazing,
and I couldn't think of a person who's more deserving of
it. So I'm very proud of her and I can't wait to watch.
If you could only perform one lip sync for the rest of your
life, what song would you choose and why?
One lip sync for the rest of my life?
Oh my goodness.
Oh, it would probably be
'All Coming Back To Me Now' by Celine, just because
it's kind of like my staple song that I do.
I perform it all the time anyway, I will be performing
it for the rest of my life.
It's great. It's emotional, people love it.
And the best part is I don't have to dance, like I just get
to stand there and be beautiful.
And as an aging dancer, there's nothing better
than not having to dance.
Brooke, how has drag changed your life?
Drag has completely changed the trajectory
of my life and my destiny.
I mean, from winning this continental to getting on Drag
Race, like I owe everything to the continental pageantry
system, and then also to RuPaul's Drag Race.
Like, it really has made drag a bona
fide, legitimate industry and something
that is a real career and something
that can take you to so many different places.
It's like it's opened so many different doors for me.
And because of Drag Race, we're now seeing drag queens
on different TV shows, like 'We're Here.'
I didn't have any money to tip the bathroom attendant.
How did you retuck so fast?
Well, that's for me to know and you to....
That just was not happening before Drag Race.
So it's really just made it mainstream.
And I know some people don't like
that. They want it to, they would prefer to stay
underground and kind of a niche thing.
But I mean, I don't.
I'm very happy it's mainstream.
I love it and keep it going.
I mean, shove it in people's faces.
We're here and we're not going anywhere.
Thank you so much for watching speed date on Xtra Magazine.
You can find me on Instagram @bhytes, you can
find me on Twitter @Bhytes1 one
and you can find me on TikTok @bhytes.