{"id":536093,"date":"2026-07-11T08:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T08:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/536093\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T08:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T08:58:07","slug":"canadas-drag-race-all-stars-premiere-recap-i-need-to-talk-to-a-slay-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/536093\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Canada\u2019s Drag Race All Stars\u2019 premiere recap: I need to talk to a slay person"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget Canada vs. The World<\/a>\u2014Canada\u2019s Drag Race is back with its own All Stars.<\/p>\n

Before we dive into the Canada All Stars season premiere, let\u2019s flash back a bit to how we got here. When Drag Race began expanding internationally in a significant way, the desire to see queens from different franchises battle grew quickly. RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race UK vs. The World<\/a> was the first remedy to that desire, although it was an imperfect one. The fact that it wasn\u2019t a truly international season\u2014rather, one hosted by a single country\u2014led to an assumed bias for the host country\u2019s queens in the competition. This got particularly contentious when Tia Kofi beat out Marina Summers<\/a> in the show\u2019s second season. (Notably, the third season saw a non-UK queen win out, and was probably the best-received season of the spin-off so far.)<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Drag Race adopted the vs. The World format, even charging forward with a second season after Global All Stars<\/a> was announced (a decision that surprised me<\/a> at the time), and Drag Race Espa\u00f1a had greenlit its own All Stars. As more and more international returning queens seasons were announced\u2014France getting an All Stars as well, while Down Under got a vs. The World and both Philippines and Mexico went for new, ethnicity-specific Royale variants\u2014the question remained as to how Canada\u2019s Drag Race would move forward. The second vs. The World cast had not exactly been the most international, and more and more CDR seasons meant more and more queens chomping at the bit for another chance at the crown.<\/p>\n

And so we arrive at Canada\u2019s Drag Race All Stars, with eight veterans of the program returning for Round 2\u2014or Round 3 in Pythia\u2019s case, as she comes home after a strong but cut short run on the aforementioned Global All Stars. But perhaps not quite ready to shed the vestiges of vs. The World, this season also features RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race Season 12\u2019s Jackie Cox, a Canadian by birth who, in an alternate world where she was cast a season before Brooke Lynn Hytes, might\u2019ve been the host of this very program.<\/p>\n

She and Pythia make for a couple of gaggy casting choices\u2014ones that immediately put the other queens on edge. Make no mistake: this is a cutthroat group of girls, and they\u2019re hungry for the win. As we\u2019ll see by episode\u2019s end, they\u2019re not inclined to let a RuGirl get in their way of $100,000.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Jackie<\/p>\n

Jackie Cox is the season\u2019s big gag casting, coming to Canada\u2019s Drag Race for the first time from RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race Season 12 Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/p>\n

After a cute fake-out intro with our new judges\u2014Canada\u2019s Drag Race Season 1 vets Priyanka and Jimbo\u2014pretending to be contestants, we meet the queens actually competing. Joining Pythia and Jackie are Season 1 Porkchop Juice Boxx, Season 3 runner-up Jada Shada Hudson (alerting any horny ghosts to her presence), Season 4 finalists Aurora Matrix and Nearah Nuff, Season 5 runner-up Makayla Couture and early-out Tiffany Ann Co. and Season 6 finalist and fan favourite Sami Landri<\/a>. Nearah gets my vote for best entrance back into the werk room: \u201cI heard you ordered a fucking bitch.\u201d I missed her rampant antagonism! I love a villain who can back it up in a lip sync.<\/p>\n

Already, you can see the looks have elevated significantly. Jada, Aurora and Tiffany all get my votes for strong entrance looks, while Makayla\u2019s might be the best of the bunch. Although it hasn\u2019t been that long since we\u2019ve seen Makayla, throughout this episode she demonstrates that she\u2019s grown a lot from her season. I do get the sense that Canada\u2019s Drag Race still has a lot invested in her prom-queen-to-crowned-queen narrative; might she be our frontrunner for the crown? She\u2019s got stiff competition all around her, particularly from Sami, who took the critiques from Season 6 and immediately applied them. If Sami\u2019s original run was mostly about her goofing around, this one is serious business.<\/p>\n

Everyone among these seven, from former finalists to first-out Juice, is taking this quite seriously\u2014which is why their reaction to the RuGirls is so interesting. If Jackie is greeted with a kind of muted skepticism (Jada in particular openly questions her presence in confessional), then they greet Pythia with a mix of fear and frustration, almost to the point of anger. The perpetually sweet Aurora taking a swipe at her entrance look in confessional feels emblematic of this: while they can love and respect Pythia, she\u2019s a huge threat coming into this competition. It\u2019s natural to be wary of what her being there means for them.<\/p>\n

It takes very little time for the queens to start scheming. Makayla posits an alliance to her Season 5 sister Tiffany, but later admits that\u2019s just a smokescreen for the real alliance she wants with Pythia. (Perhaps she\u2019s thinking: if you can\u2019t beat her, join her!) Pythia, meanwhile, also forges a deal with Sami and Nearah, while Nearah and Aurora pledge to stick together as Season 4 sisters. These bonds are notable because, for about half of this cast, they\u2019ve never dealt with the Golden Beaver twist. (The four who haven\u2019t are Jackie, Jada, Juice and Pythia.) CDR\u2019s signature twist, which gives the winning queen the opportunity to save one of the bottom three, debuted in Season 4, and later made its way onto Canada vs. The World Season 2\u2014not to mention UK vs. The World Season 3 as the Chippy Tea. It\u2019s quite likely to return here, so alliances are the name of the game.<\/p>\n

\"Makayla<\/p>\n

Makayla Couture\u2019s primary alliance plan this season is to team up with Pythia, but how will the Golden Beaver rule change affect her strategy? Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/p>\n

The first maxi-challenge is the \u201cMiss CUNT-intental Pageant,\u201d featuring three categories: swimsuit, talent and elegant evening wear. The way this works out in practice is basically merging the little dance numbers they used to do at the start of ball challenges, an abbreviated talent show and a runway. It\u2019s cute new branding on familiar elements, and it comes with one truly major change: lip syncing is banned in the talent portion. This is something fans have been clamouring for from the American series, and while it is fun to see what other talents the queens have \u2026 by the end, I\u2019m afraid to say I do think there\u2019s a reason the lip sync numbers haven\u2019t been banned internationally yet.<\/p>\n

The swimsuit portion involves a choreographed dance to RuPaul\u2019s song \u201cCharisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent,\u201d and it\u2019s okay! No one totally flops, and Jada and Aurora in particular both look gorgeous. I love Pythia\u2019s muscle suit look, too\u2014feels like a perfectly Pythia way to address the prompt. If anyone struggles here, it\u2019s Juice, who just seems way too in her head.<\/p>\n

For the talent show, we get a couple of cultural dance numbers from Jada, Aurora and Pythia, the latter of whom adds to her act by balancing a bottle on her head and carrying a table with her teeth. It\u2019s incredibly gaggy! Also kinda gaggy is Tiffany\u2019s floating lightsaber routine, while Sami\u2019s clogging act is hilarious and perfectly Sami. Jackie and Makayla both go for cabaret-style acts, and while Jackie sounds good on her original song about tariffs, Makayla gets more praise from her fellow queens for doing something unexpected. The two strangest acts are Juice dead-lifting a man named Jake\u2014Jake is cute, hi Jake!\u2014and Nearah doing a cup-stacking act. My major criticism of both is that they\u2019re just not very draggy. If we\u2019re not going to do lip sync acts, we still have to find ways to bring a true drag spirit to these talents. These two fail the most at that aspect.<\/p>\n

Onto the runway, where absolute Ru bop \u201cQueendom\u201d plays, and the best looks of the night are Pythia\u2019s Hera-inspired peacock gown, Aurora\u2019s empress robe reveal and Sami\u2019s elevated leopard print look. A couple queens suffer for going with good, but expected, looks, including Makayla and especially Jackie. While I understand wanting to call back to her genie look from Season 12, it can\u2019t help but feel like Jackie is stuck in that same mode from six years ago, rather than really presenting something new. If I\u2019m going to knock her for that, though, then I really have to knock Juice for using a revamped look from her planned package for Season 1.<\/p>\n

Overall, Juice feels like she\u2019s not ready to move past Season 1. Seeing that Jimbo and Priyanka are her judges makes her spiral, and Brooke Lynn has to have a come-to-Jesus moment with her in critiques, telling her that she\u2019s not letting herself enjoy the experience. I get that being the first-ever queen eliminated from this franchise can build up expectations in your head in a big way, but unless Juice can snap out of it, I don\u2019t see her making it very far.<\/p>\n

\"Nearah<\/p>\n

Nearah Nuff gets up to her old tricks in Mini-Untucked, declaring that no matter who she\u2019s against in the bottom two, she will win the lip sync Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/p>\n

The top three are Aurora, Pythia and Sami, while the bottom three are Nearah, Jackie and Juice. Honestly, no complaints from me on these\u2014Jada and Makayla are both generally strong in the pageant, and while Tiffany is definitely getting graded on a curve a bit, I do think she overperformed expectations in a way Jackie did not. But before the queens can head backstage, Brooke Lynn pulls out the big twist of All Stars: who the Golden Beaver saves is not chosen by the challenge winner. Instead, it is decided by group vote. (While the fact of what happens if there\u2019s a tie does not come up, I have to imagine the winner would have the deciding vote in that case.)<\/p>\n

This instantly reverses everyone\u2019s strategic thinking: individual alliances aren\u2019t going to work as well. You need the numbers, which means you need everyone. Moreover, it allows for a lot of room for keeping in shields ahead of you: queens who are more likely to wind up in the bottom again. That\u2019s explicitly why Makayla wants to save Juice, for instance.<\/p>\n

For Nearah, on the other hand, it makes her apparently blow a gasket.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why you cast Nearah Nuff on your television program: she will stew in the corner, then suddenly make grand threats to the other two queens in the bottom that she will \u201crip you to shreds\u201d in the lip sync, declare herself the Lip Sync Assassin of Canada\u2019s Drag Race and then blow up all her alliances in a way that infuriates her allies so much that none of them vote to save her. And then she\u2019ll insult Juice right before they might have to lip sync against each other just for the hell of it. She is TV. She is drama. She is, to put it mildly, e-nuff.<\/p>\n

\"Kathy<\/p>\n

She needs to talk to a gay person! Kathy Griffin is our premiere guest judge Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/p>\n

The queens vote, and it is, of course, terrible news for Nearah. She gets not one vote to save, while we see Makayla and Aurora vote to save Juice, and Jada and Sami (who is pissed at Nearah) vote to save Jackie. We don\u2019t see Tiffany or Pythia\u2019s votes\u2014though we do see that Pythia is also absolutely furious with Nearah\u2014but the final count makes clear that both of them voted to save Juice. She gets the Golden Beaver, and suddenly poor Jackie is up against the furious tornado that is Nearah Nuff.<\/p>\n

Also, Pythia wins! She gets $10,000. Hilariously, her victory feels almost like a footnote thanks to this format\u2014it\u2019s great to see her come out on top, but all eyes are on the voting results and lip sync at this point.<\/p>\n

Nearah vs. Jackie is set to RAYE\u2019s absolute bop \u201cWHERE IS MY HUSBAND!\u201d, a song I\u2019m gagged Canada\u2019s Drag Race got to first. I thought for sure this would be a Drag Race UK lip sync in this upcoming season. Jackie goes for comedy, which isn\u2019t a bad strategy\u2014do what your opponent will not, basically. Unfortunately, Nearah is unbelievably puss in this number, and it\u2019s a perfect fit for the song. It\u2019s a TKO, and the American goes home first.<\/p>\n

Absolutely brutal that a fifth-placer on one of the strongest RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race seasons ever is our Canada All Stars first out, but that should be a warning shot of sorts: this group came to play, and the new Golden Beaver format gives them plenty of room to do so. Woe to any queen\u2014finalist, three-timer, American, what have you\u2014who finds herself in the crosshairs, because this group will not hesitate to take the shot.<\/p>\n

Untucking our final thoughts<\/p>\n

\u2728 Jada going from being skeptical of Jackie\u2019s presence to having a crush on her\u2014relatable!<\/p>\n

\u2728 Thank god the judges are bringing back the telepathic nods this season. We\u2019ve missed them!<\/p>\n

\u2728 Kathy Griffin is our guest judge for this premiere, and like Paula Abdul in the Season 6 opener, she gets a chance to come in and bond with the queens a bit in the werk room. Having grown up on Kathy\u2019s Bravo presence, particularly her stand-up specials, seeing her recreate her \u201cI need to talk to a gay person\u201d meme from My Life on the D-List is nothing short of delightful.<\/p>\n

\u2728 Jackie opens up to the other queens about being nervous about the Trump administration in the U.S. as a green card holder. She says that while she\u2019s thought about moving back to Canada, spending more than six months outside the U.S. would cause her to lose her working capability in America, and with family still there, that\u2019s not really an option for her. It\u2019s pretty heartbreaking to hear, and honestly makes her being the first boot sting even more.<\/p>\n

\u2728 Pythia has made every part of her runway package for this season. That is, of course, incredibly rare these days, and it makes me very excited to see what else she has to offer.<\/p>\n

\u2728 JUICE: \u201cNo panic attack today!\u201d<\/p>\n

PRIYANKA: \u201cNot yeeeeet!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2728 Jada not realizing she\u2019s been dragging a stool out with her from Mini-Untucked had me cracking up laughing. God, I\u2019ve missed the Turn-Up Queen.<\/p>\n

The next episode of Canada\u2019s Drag Race All Stars will be available to stream on Thursday, July 16, at 9 p.m. EST on WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. You can subscribe to our drag newsletter, Wig!<\/a>, for exclusive Drag Race content delivered straight to your inbox every month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget Canada vs. The World\u2014Canada\u2019s Drag Race is back with its own All Stars. Before we dive into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-536093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}