Start your engines, RuPaul’s Drag Race fans. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will appear on the upcoming Canada’s Drag Race spinoff series Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World.
“We’re making herstory,” Canada’s Drag Race tweeted on Tuesday, noting that Trudeau will be the first world leader to appear on the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, a glitzy celebration of creativity and diversity that started in the US and has spun off into the UK, Australia, Spain, Holland, Sweden and the Philippines, among other countries.
Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World premieres on Friday, Nov. 18 on Crave in Canada and on WOW Presents worldwide. It will see nine queens from around the world competing across six episodes in challenges that test their performance, costume-making and impersonation skills and general charisma, uniqueness nerve and talent. Competing queens are Anita Wigl’it, Icesis Couture, Kendall Gender, Ra’Jah O’Hara, Rita Baga, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Stephanie Prince, Vanity Milan and Victoria Scone.
To avoid spoilers, production company World of Wonder didn’t reveal which episode will feature Trudeau or his precise role in the series (will he be a guest judge? get read for filth?). A new trailer, however, shows him dressed in a suit and tie — sadly no glitter or feathers — and greeting delighted contestants backstage.
This isn’t the first time a political figure has shown up on a version of the reality TV competition show. Earlier this year, during Pride Month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 7, where she expressed support for the drag community and urged Americans to vote. US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Drag Race superfan served as a guest judge on season 12 in 2020, joining the queens backstage to tell them how much they inspired her just by being themselves.
News of Trudeau’s appearance comes as Americans head to the polls to vote in midterm elections. He’d better werk.
