Brooke Lynn Hytes Is Spilling The Tea On "Canada's Drag Race All Stars," Sharing The Judging Duties, And So Much More

2 hours ago 2

After years of fans begging for a Canada's Drag Race All Stars season, the franchise is finally serving its first All Stars eleganza extravaganza. To celebrate the premiere, we sat down with Brooke Lynn Hytes, the Queen of the North herself, to spill the tea on why now was the perfect time to bring back a cast of returning legends. Brooke also opened up about judging queens with more compassion, what she's learned about herself as a judge, and sharing the panel with fellow drag superstars Priyanka and Jimbo. And because no Drag Race interview would be complete without a little runway fantasy, she revealed her dream guest judges, the queens she'd trust with her mug and wardrobe, and what it was like to see herself on the big screen. In true Brooke fashion, the conversation was serving charisma, uniqueness, nerve, talent, and plenty of laughs.

Fans have wanted Canada's Drag Race All Stars for years. What made now feel like the right time?

Because I'm a tease. Like to string people along and make them wait for it [laughs]. No, I just think it was the right time. The longer we wait, the more queens we have to choose from, the more the demand grows, the more the excitement grows. So, I think this was kind of the perfect time, especially after the success of Season 6, to kind of take that moment and do our first All Stars.

Did you always believe the franchise would eventually reach this milestone?

Yeah, I did. I think we've been so successful, and the creators and people who work on the show are so good at keeping it fresh and new, that I had a feeling it would just keep going and keep getting better.

Did you find yourself being tougher on returning queens because you already knew what they were capable of?

No, in fact, I found myself becoming a little softer, still giving criticism, but kind of delivering it in a softer way, because it takes a lot to compete on this show. It takes a lot of money, a lot of courage, a lot of energy: emotional and mental and physical. My number one priority is to make a good TV show, but right behind that is to make sure people feel good about themselves and leave feeling like they've accomplished something, even if they didn't win. You can critique people and let them know you didn't like something without completely slamming them into the ground. I don't think that's very productive.

I wanted to sort of stay on that topic, because I think about your thoughtfulness as a judge. For example, last season, you went on stage and comforted Star Doll after she was eliminated. Now six seasons into hosting, what have you learned about yourself as a judge, and do you feel pressure when judging because of how outspoken fans are online?

What I've learned about myself is that I have a lot of walls up. I think we all do, but I have a lot of emotional walls up, and I've learned to kind of break those down and be a little bit more human with them, just get a little bit more comfortable being myself and showing vulnerability. I think I just realized that when I was on the show, and what I think all queer people want is, we want validation, and we want to be seen by someone in authority who we look up to, almost like a parental figure, so I just try to give every queen that validation, even if they don't win, but just a moment to say, like, "I see you, I think you're amazing, maybe now is not your time, but it doesn't mean the world is over." That's kind of my mission, and what I’ve learned through the years is that everyone at least leaves feeling good about themselves.

And no pressure from the outspoken fans at all?

I mean, there's always pressure from the fans. The fans can be wild, and they certainly have opinions about everything. It can make it difficult, but you just kind of drown out the noise and don't pay attention to it. But it's great, because now I have two other queens to share that.

Speaking of. This is the franchise's first all-drag judging panel. Was it your idea to have Priyanka and Jimbo be part of the season?

Absolutely not. No, it was Trevor's idea, our showrunner, but I was very enthusiastic about it. I thought, I think it's a great idea. I think it makes sense. I think it's what the fans want. They want to see that twist. So, I think it was brilliant, and we had such a great time.

Important question: Was there a group chat about what you guys were wearing?

No. There was a group chat, just not about what we were wearing, that's why I always look the best [laughs]. We did have a group chat, and it was really fun. Like, literally after every episode, I would get a text from one of them in the chat going, like, "Oh my God, this is so hard." And I was like, "Yes! You see." So that was really nice.

Also, they did such a great job, and they were so enthusiastic and excited to be there. Just thrilled to be a part of it, and energy creates energy, so their energy was giving me even more energy, because I was like coming in with my cane, like, "There we go again," and then this new fresh energy brought me back up, it was awesome.

Who is a dream guest judge you’d love to have on the show? And dream big! Put it out there in the world.

There are so many dream guest judges. I mean, dream…Celine Dion. Another one for me would be Linda Evangelista. Also, Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Carly Rae Jepsen. Oh, there's so many, but yeah, I think Celine is my No. 1.

If you could add one challenge to every All Stars season, what would it be?

Make me an outfit.

Okay, that actually was my next question. Which returning queen would you trust to do your makeup before the runway? And which would you trust to design a look for you?

I would trust Aurora Matrix to do my makeup for the runway. And to design a look for me, I would trust Pythia.

You’ve got a lot of titles: TV host, professional ballet dancer, Miss Continental, actress, lip sync assassin, Queen of the North, and now you have another one: MOVIE STAR. You've said in interviews that you thought it was just going to be a streaming film on WOW Presents Plus. What was it like to see yourself on the big screen? And what was that moment when you realized this is going to be a movie movie?

It was cool. I mean, I'm the type of person that doesn't let things sink in, you know? I'm not like a reveler, like I do something and then I like immediately move on to the next thing. It was cool, but I didn't sit there and like sob. I was kind of like, "Oh, I hate my voice." Just sitting there critiquing myself, because I'm that kind of person. It was very cool. It was a very cool experience. The movie was amazing. Shooting it was so much fun. I had a blast doing it, and yeah, it was weird seeing yourself in a big movie theater. But, again, I don't stop and think about my life and being like, "Look at all this crazy stuff I'm doing." Although I probably should, but I don't.

And final question, who gets to do the Heated Rivalry parody acting challenge first: Drag Race US or Canada?

It better be Canada! That's our territory. Absolutely, I want to play Ilya! Give me a blonde curly wig. [In a Russian accent] "Hollander, let's go to the cottage."