This article contains spoilers on who was eliminated from season six of Canada’s Drag Race, episode five.
This week’s episode of Canada’s Drag Race saw the remaining eight queens battle it out in the highly-anticipated Slay-Offs. After getting into performance-ready drag, the queens made their way out to the main stage, where this week’s guest judge Sarain Fox pulled each queen’s name out of a bowl. Once their name was called, they were able to choose which of the four songs they wanted to lip sync against.
Mya Foxx and Saltina Shaker lip synced against each other to “SHUT UP AND KISS ME” by Fefe Dobson with Saltina taking the win. Sami Landri and PM lip synched to “I’m Alive” by Céline Dion, with Sami winning. Eboni Labelle won her lip sync against Van Goth to “Feel Good” by Charlotte Cardin, and finally it was Karamilk versus Velma Jones in a lip sync to “It’s ok I’m ok” by Tate McRae with Karamilk winning the last lip sync of the first round.
The four winners lip synced in pairs until Eboni was crowned the winner of the Slay-Offs. Unfortunately, PM, Velma, Van, and Mya all landed in the bottom. Backstage they plead their case to Eboni, and after a tense deliberation, back out on the main stage Eboni gave the Golden Beaver to her scissor sister Van Goth.
This left PM, Velma, and Mya to lip sync for their lives to “Sweet Surrender” by Sarah McLachlan. In the end, PM was spared from elimination, thus sending Canada’s Drag Race’s first Nova Scotian queen, and first AFAB queen (and drag king) packing halfway through the competition.
Each week 29Secrets will be interviewing the eliminated queen. In an interview with Velma and Mya, they talk about being Canada’s Drag Race trailblazers, what advice they would give themselves, and what they were most nervous about heading into the Slay-Offs.
Velma, my first question is for you. Your name was picked last in the Slay-Offs. What song would you have chosen if you were picked first?
Velma Jones: Oh, I would pick Céline Dion for sure. Because I love a good number with spoken word and we can be a little silly and play with it. So, that was my first choice and close to it was “Feel Good” because I love Charlotte Cardin and it was in French!
Mya, what goes through your head during a lip sync? Are you strategizing or is it like a tunnel vision situation where you’re just kind of like trying to make it to the end of the song?
Mya Foxx: I think lip syncing out of the show and on the show are two very different things. You know what I mean?I think when I’m performing in a bar or you know, on stage locally or whatever, I’m in the moment, and I’m feeling it and I’m trying to connect to the audience and all this kind of stuff. When you are lip syncing on Drag Race, there’s so much pressure, there’s so much adrenaline. Like, honestly, like I blacked out for most of my lip sync. I didn’t really know what I did until I watched it back. I think it’s a completely different experience for sure.
A question for both of you. What were you most nervous for heading into the Slay-Offs?
Velma Jones: Getting “It’s ok I’m ok.” (laughs) My nightmare coming true! And I was laughing all along, I was like. “No way. Of course I got that!”
Mya Foxx: For me, lip-syncing is what I do.That’s what most of us do for our bread and butter. So, for me, I was like, oh God, “I don’t wanna have a bad lip sync because that’s what I’m gonna get booked for”. Do you know what I mean? So, I was thinking more post-show. There were certainly songs I wanted to do more than others and things like that but I was just like, “I just need to do a good job. I do not wanna be a bad lip syncher on the show or fail on stage.
Velma, you’re passionate in supporting younger drag artists with mentorship. In a world where that sometimes isn’t the norm, why is it important to you to foster those relationships with younger performers?
Velma Jones: Because they’re so important and they are so creative and they inspire me so much. They find ways to do shows and they find ways to express themselves with other mediums. It’s something we started with the older generation and it’s something new with them, having all the resources, on the internet.
In their minds, they are so creative, and I think it’s good for them to have mentorship also because they are a little bit stuck sometimes always in doing the same thing. So I want them to just do different things and use that to put it in their drag, just to grow with it.
What was something you were both surprised by competing on the show that you, you maybe weren’t expecting?
Mya Foxx: I think like, the speed at which everything happens, it really is a race. We walk into the work room, they give us the challenge, you know, we go off camera, we hear the rules, and like we start like there’s, there’s no time, right? Sometimes when you’re watching the show at home, you’re like, “oh, then this acting challenge, this person didn’t really know their character, didn’t really know their lines”. Well, yeah, they just got it an hour ago! You know what I mean? So I think that was a big thing for me. You just gotta kind of buckle up and go with it and trust your gut.
Velma Jones: Yeah, and for me, I know it’s stupid, but I wasn’t prepared for the reality TV part, and the drama, and “everybody’s against me! What? What is going on?” Like for me, I was just going there to compete and to show my drag, like maybe I’m a little bit naive in what I was thinking.
All of the lip syncs this season specifically have not only been strong, but super close in my opinion. What is a move or a trick that you both like to pull out to push your performance over the edge?
Mya Foxx: Ooh! I think like when I’m performing locally, I always like to throw a little bit of comedy in it, and it’s about doing something with an audience member or like pulling somebody on the stage or doing a trick in the crowd or doing something like that. Like people wanna be part of it, right?
And I think, obviously when you’re on Drag Race, you can’t do those types of things, but I love my floor work. I love my little slides, little leg open, a heel clack, something like that, but that tends to get people going for sure.
Velma Jones: Yeah, you’re, you’re totally right, Mya. For me, it’s really engaging with the crowd. And I’ve found that it’s the improvised moments that make the magic of it.
Mya, you’re the first Nova Scotian queen on the show. East Coast Queens don’t have a lot of representation on the Canada’s Drag Race stage. What do you think people would be surprised to know about the drag scene in the Maritimes?
We’re so resilient. I mean, I think that’s the biggest thing. And we have to be resourceful out here because there’s not a huge entertainment scene and there’s not like a fashion district that you can go to, and we’ve got the little old lady Fabricland store where people are making quilts and shit like that. So, I think in order for us to be able to deliver good performance, we have to be talented because we don’t necessarily have the same aesthetic that, you know, you see in some of these bigger cities.
So, I think it’s a lot of comedy. We’ve got amazing hosts, we have lots of quick banter, like everything everybody saw from me from Snatch Game and the acting challenges, All the girls are like that out here. So I think it’s something that’s slept on and, you know, maybe sometimes we may not be the most polished aesthetically, but we can really deliver the comedy and really connect with people.
Both of you are trailblazers in your own way in the Canada’s Drag Race universe, and you also got to walk out together. What are you most proud of when you look back at your time in the competition?
Velma Jones: Oh my God. Uh, so much! Uh, of course Johnny, like that runway was historical. I cannot dream of a better moment to just show him to the world. Each runway was special. It’s something that we prepare before and then just to like, to show it, it was really amazing and just being there!
Mya Foxx: Yeah, I mean for me, I think my biggest takeaway is the Snatch Game win. Like, I can’t lie, that’s pretty iconic, and I can walk out with my head held high saying I won the most iconic challenge in Drag Race. So that feels really good for sure. I also think just me being there, a lot of people are like, “oh, she’s quiet,” or “she’s this or she’s that”. And I’m just a more chill personality and for me, I don’t feel it’s necessary to go into a room and say “I’m so good at this. I’m so good at that, da da da”. I’d rather let my performance speak for that. And I think that’s what people saw from me in the challenges. And, you know, I feel like I slayed every week. Like I didn’t have a bad week and I obviously wish it lasted a little bit longer, but super proud of what I did.
If each of you could go back in time and give the pre-Drag Race version of yourself a piece of advice, what would you tell them?
Velma Jones: Check out some reality tv! (laughs)
Mya Foxx: I think just, trust yourself more. And I did do that throughout the process, but I think going into it, you let other people’s opinions of what you’re good at and what you’re not kind of get into your head. And being there and doing the challenges I was like “girl, you got it.” And I wish I had that earlier on and I think maybe that confidence would’ve come across sooner in the show.
Velma Jones: The noise is so loud. So, you are like, “Do I do what I do usually, or do I do that?” Like, what is gonna work? Then at the end you just do what you’re good at.
Then at the end of each day you’re all by yourself with your own thoughts. So then you kind of ruminate on what you could have done, or what you should have done.
Mya Foxx: The hotel room was like a padded room. By the end of it, you’re like sitting there like, oh my God, what’s happening? Yeah, absolutely.
Velma Jones: Why, why, why did I do that Snatch Game. What did I choose Justin [Trudeau]? (laughs).
OK, last question. Where do you want to see yourselves in a year’s time?
Velma Jones: Just doing more drag, maybe live from it. I want to go see the world. I want to be everywhere. I’m not scared of anything, so bring it on. I’m gonna do it!
Mya Foxx: I want to travel. I wanna see the country. I wanna see the world. I’d love to do some more TV. Call us back, All Stars VS The World. Something like that. We’d be bomb, we’d go in and we’d kill it together. A hundred percent!
