Jimbo ate sandwiches, the runway, and our hearts on Canada's Drag Race
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Warning: This article contains spoilers about Thursday's episode of Canada's Drag Race.
Canada's Drag Race has taken one final bite of the Jimbo sandwich.
Thanks to her quick wit, self-proclaimed "slutty" demeanor, and unparalleled output on the Emmy-winning series' first Canadian edition, the film and television costumer quickly became a fan favorite. Unafraid to challenge the judges — particularly Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman — on their critiques and ever ready to slay the children on the main stage, Jimbo carved a unique lane as a singular personality, registering not only as a standout player among the queens of the north, but as one of the all-time greats among the global queer franchise.
Unfortunately, Jimbo's time on the competition was cut short Thursday night, after the judges — including guest panelist Michelle Visage — went cold on her icy, winter-chilled ball challenge looks, and she sashayed away into the pantheon of gone-too-soon legends just before the final episode.
Read EW's full exit interview with Jimbo below, covering the recent controversy over Bowyer-Chapman's judging style, dressing dogs for family films, and her iconic sandwich-eating moment. Tune in to WOW Presents Plus next Thursday for the Canada's Drag Race finale.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Hi, Jimbo! Thanks for talking with me today, but I’m so sad it’s under the circumstances of your elimination!
JIMBO: I was so sad to go. I really wish I had a new crown, but that’s okay.
In the words of Whitney Houston: It’s not right, but it’s okay. Even though this didn’t work out — like you said on this episode, the Canada’s Most Beautiful Whore contest is still looking for a winner, so you can do that next!
[Laughs] Thank you!
You might be gone, but we’ll always have the GIFs of you eating your little sandwich in the Werk Room. Were you trying to become a meme in that moment?
No! We weren’t supposed to eat in the Werk Room, and I’d smuggled that little chunk of sandwich in. Everything happens so quickly, and it’s hard to eat when you’re all done up. I just smuggled that little sandwich in and hid it on the second level of my cart. I thought I was being sneaky, and I pretended to go get my makeup, but I went and got my little sandwich and I was just snacking away. A lot of the time I forgot we were even on a show, so in that moment I really was just having a snack and watching the girls!
You quickly became a fan favorite for that reason and so much more, including your incredible looks. You’re a costumer for movies and theater, right? Looking at your credits, we have Pup Star World Tour and Pup Academy, and I love the image of you bringing drag flair to costumes for dogs in family films. Can you tell me about working on those projects?
Those movies are so fun to do! I was a costumer for dogs, so I’d make the dogs’ costumes in this beautiful mansion we filmed in. Each room had a different dog in it. In front of a little Golden Retriever puppy, everyone was trying so hard to be professional. It’s like, "Stay still! I’m going to measure the puppy!" but then we’d all break down and he’d roll on his belly…. I also worked for Hallmark, which is funny because of how conservative and family-friendly those shows are. Part of being a successful artist is being adaptive and listening to what your clients are looking for and delivering it. Not everything I do has to be so extreme!
What you’re saying is there’s no room for slutty dog couture in these productions?
[Laughs] We tried! Sometimes the [garment] could get a little bit short on the dog, we’d go, um, you know, we can see some leg on that dog!
It’s so surprising, then, that the ball challenge is what sent you home because you do this for a living. Do you agree that your looks weren’t the best, or were you surprised that the judges didn’t like them?
It was a combination of the two. Thinking back, Brooke Lynn is a pageant queen, so if I was really thinking hard beforehand, I’d have just tried to look like Brooke because that’s what she was looking for. As a clown, it’s always my intention to turn something on its head or look at it a different way... Looking online and seeing all of these different looks, a tight body, sparkly dress, I thought, "How can I not do that?" because I’m a clown! I wanted to find my own way through it. [I tried] to do my clown take on glamour and pageantry. And it didn’t land. They have their own ideas of what I should look like, and it was hard for them to see my point of view. [Jeffrey] saying I wasn’t glamorous at all, that was to elicit a response because we’re on a TV show. It’s all about TV and looking critically.
Was there ever a point where it seemed like no matter what you did, it wasn’t going to be recognized as great?
As an artist that’s been on the fringe and doing something different, I haven’t always been accepted or seen. I had to make my own path and show people my point of view. It’s never been easy. It wasn’t surprising that it was hard for me there. Being overlooked and having to fight as an underdog to be seen, that just drove me to show them more.
The issue of the judging came to a head this week, especially with Jeffrey, who deleted his Twitter. How do you feel about how the fans have treated Jeffrey? Do you think they have the wrong impression of him?
Yeah! He was playing a character as a judge on a show about judging drag queens. He did his job, which was to judge people! This stems from love, joy, and the desire to share this art form with the world, so it’s disappointing. Whether or not you agree with someone, to turn on them and show them so much hate in return is disappointing. It’s a missed opportunity to celebrate everything we did. I encourage everyone to show love and support. Bullying, intimidating, and shaming people isn’t good for anyone — certainly not our community, which is supposed to be all about love, acceptance, visibility, and unity, and the fandom needs to unite and show the world we’re a strong community that’s about love and support.
It’s so important that you say that. Moving back to the challenges: You took to a lot of the acting challenges so naturally, and you always seemed to give characters a “slutty” edge that I loved. Why is that your go-to comedy device?
I love pushing all kinds of boundaries. The theme of sexuality and being slutty is pretty strong in my life! That’s been something that’s been kind of repressed. Being a kid of the ‘80s and having lived a life of excess while being kind of bizarre, all of that is woven into my story. I also like to poke fun at social norms and ideas about femininity… It’s all meant to be funny and start a conversation that makes people not take sex and sexuality and power in sexuality as a bad thing. There’s power in seeing sex as healthy and good. We shouldn’t be slut-shaming.
Back to this week, it was funny to me that both you and Rita were criticized for not being able to move in your garments, yet you were the ones lip-syncing. Rita cut hers away, but you seemed to struggle. Why didn’t you rip things off to move better?
As a clown, remaining in character is huge. To take off my wig and things that were attached, I would’ve been bald. If you don’t have a reveal underneath, taking your hair off on the runway isn’t good! It was important for me to keep my composure and to be a queen, beautiful and proud, instead of falling apart in desperation. And that was probably the worst outfit I could’ve lip-synced in! At the end of the day, I’m glad I kept the hair on!
You left on a note where you still looked wonderful! Is there anything else you want to say about your time on the show?
I just want to thank the fandom for their love and support. I want to remind everyone to be kind, spread love, and be kind to the judges and the girls. Celebrate the fact that we have Canada’s Drag Race, that we’re gay, we’re visible, proud, and love each other!
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