While preparing to interview the winner of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs the World season 2, the zestiest new addition to the International Pavilion in the Drag Race Hall of Fame, and the superstar who's just started her reign as the Queen of the Mother-Pucking World, I went back and listened to the other times I had spoken to Lemon.
"It's been a journey. That denim look is shaking," Lemon tells Out, referencing a look of hers from season 1 of Canada's Drag Race. "It's really crazy. I feel like winning is a lot like losing, except you won," she teases.
Lemon was undeniably focused and galvanized from the very first moment she appeared on this season of Canada vs the World. She had always been confident, of course, but there was something else this time around — a degree of competitive focus and preparation that mirrored past winners of All Stars seasons.
"On UK vs the World, I got some critiques that I was like, 'Damn, they're right.' It pissed me off in a way because there [were] other good things they could've noticed, but it was the tiniest little things that they latched on to," she recalls. "This time, I kept saying while I was preparing, 'I have to go in and be undeniably c*nt that they can't say anything, because there's nothing to be said anymore.'" And that, she did. Lemon smoked the competition by either winning or placing high during every single episode, never getting even close to touching the bottom.
Crave/World of Wonder
"I think the dance training that I grew up with [taught me] how to prepare for a damn competition," Lemon says. "One thing I was not going to let happen is some dumb little critique take me out of the competition."
Besides figuratively dancing circles around her competition, Lemon also "5, 6, 7… ATE" those dancing challenges in the most literal sense: she won the girl-group challenge in episode 1, and the Rusical in episode 5, and two lip syncs for the crown at the grand finale.
"Every season they talk about, 'If you can't sew, you can't do drag.' My question is, can any of these b*tches do a dance class?" she jokes.
Because she's young and has a modern take on drag, it's easy to miss that there's something fiercely nostalgic about Lemon as a drag queen. She literally can't stop herself from finding a pun, a joke, a rhyme, or a wordplay any time that she speaks. She's also constantly ready to read a b*tch when it's time for a kiki, but the dirtiest little secret about Lemon — which I've been hearing about and experiencing myself for years now — is that she's actually very positive, supportive, professional, and even… *gasp* sweet.
"I just find that life is hard enough without b*tches tearing you down for no reason. And that's just the truth," Lemon says, and can I please get an AMEN for that?! "There's room for all of us to be successful. There's room for every Drag Race girl to have a show on Friday night… there really is. Tearing someone else down just doesn't feel like it's valuable for either of us. It's a waste of time and it's a waste of energy. Frankly, you've got to be really confident in your own sh*t before you start talking about someone else's. Like, shut up."
Lemon and I accidentally quote her latest song, "It's Not That Deep," at the same time. We bring up her Canada's Drag Race BFF Priyanka, and her two-time Versus the World bestie Cheryl, as clear examples.
"[But] it really isn't," she goes on. "Priyanka and I both had a show on the same day. We both got paid for it. And look at us both: thriving and happy. There was no need for us to be in competition. Same with Cheryl. Yes, the show is a competition, but it doesn't need to be any more vicious than that."
Lemon recalls meeting Cheryl in 2018 while working together in New York City bar. They daydreamed of UK and Canadian versions of Drag Race when neither of those shows had been greenlit, and Lemon actually "drunkenly manifested" the journey she and Cheryl have had in the last few years.
(L-R) Priyanka; Jimbo; Lemon
Crave/World of Wonder; Paramount+
The first season of Canada's Drag Race currently has three crowned winners: Priyanka, Jimbo, and Lemon. "One of only two seasons in history," Lemon says, proudly. "They said season one, but they meant W-O-N, okay?"
"Jimbo bought me a cameo from Mrs. Kasha Davis to congratulate me. It's the funniest thing I've watched in my life," she adds. "Jimbo and Priyanka both texted me immediately. They've been big supports. To tell you the truth, winning a crown is a lot of pressure. It's a lot of things that you don't necessarily intuitively know. It's really nice to have true friends that are in this position as well, who can help and guide me, and be there when I have questions. It's a dream come true."
The first time Lemon and I spoke was right after her original run in the series, in 2020, after she was asked to sashay away from Canada's Drag Race season 1 despite being a big contender. In that interview, Lemon stood up for the judges who shared controversial critiques, defended the queens who came for her in a high-stress environment, and teased that "maybe one day" she'd release original music.
The next time we spoke was ahead of the first-ever UK vs the World, in 2022, at a time when Lemon already knew she had been the first-eliminated queen of the season. But we didn't, and one couldn't tell, at all, that this had been the outcome. Lemon spoke highly of her competitors, shared her excitement about an international season, and discussed her love and respect for RuPaul as a trailblazing queer artist.
Between our interviews in 2020, 2022, and 2024, I guess we've built a habit of checking in with each other at least once every two years… and it's been exciting to watch Lemon's journey along the way. But there's still one very important topic I've been meaning to bring up all along: so, when's the new album dropping, sis? And is it, like, tomorrow, perhaps?
"Well, it's not tomorrow," Lemon laughs, "but it will be very, very soon. I'm thinking in the next month. If I'm being totally real with you, I just wanted to see how this season played out before I put the finishing touches on the album. You never know if I needed to write a diss track to the judges… but thankfully I don't have to."
So, the judges are safe, thank god. And the other girls, too?
"I will say, the sisterhood on this season was real. There was a lot of love," Lemon says. "I feel like all of the performers on this season are so incredible, and I have so much respect for all of them. None of them really are getting a diss track to be real with you. Maybe one day, maybe someone will piss me off enough."
Crave/World of Wonder
"The thing is, I [even] said this to Fierce on the show, 'Coming for me is really bold because I will come back.' There's maybe been three times in my entire life that I had nothing to say… and if I don't say anything back, it's a choice," Lemon explains, but always with a giggle to remind us that things truly don't have to be that deep. "Come for me if you want… but if you enter yourself into the ring, don't be scared if the lion bites your head off."
"I'm a Virgo. I notice everything," she teases. "I've got all your sh*t clocked."
So, as the new Queen of the Mother-Pucking World, what's next for Lemon?
"The album is top of the list. It's coming very soon. I promise," she assures me. "I'm working on touring the world, and on getting myself back on television. I'm working on just being that b*tch. The truth of the matter is: I've worked so, so, so hard since the moment I was on the show, and also before, and that work ethic hasn't gone anywhere. I will continue to pop my p*ssy until the end of time… tiara or not."
All episodes of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs the World season 2 are now streaming on WOW Presents Plus.
