Jimbo (drag queen)

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Jimbo
File:DragCon 2023 @ DVSROSS Photgraphy -34 (cropped).jpg
Jimbo at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2023
Born
James Insell

(1982-11-10) November 10, 1982 (age 43)[1]
London, Ontario, Canada
Other namesJimbo the Drag Clown
EducationUniversity of Western Ontario (BS)
OccupationsDrag queen, designer
Years active2000s–present
Known forCanada's Drag Race (season 1)
RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World (series 1)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 8)
Websitehouseofjimbo.com

James Insell (born November 10, 1982), better known by the stage name Jimbo, is a Canadian designer and drag queen who competed in the first season of Canada's Drag Race (2020),[2] was in the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World (2022),[3] and won the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2023).[4]

Early life and education

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From London, Ontario, Insell, his brother Jeff, as well as sisters Samantha and Jennifer,[5] were born to Mary Insell[6] and James Peter Insell (1947–2018),[5] both boys being interested in creative pursuits from childhood, including early drag play.[7] His father received his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Western Ontario in 1983.[8] Respecting his father's wishes that he pursue a career-oriented education, he studied biology at the University of Western Ontario; following graduation, however, he opted not to pursue employment in the field and instead moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he began working as a costume and production designer.[7] He is married to Brady Taylor.[9]

Career

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Insell has worked predominantly in local theatre, including productions of James and the Giant Peach[10] The Rocky Horror Show,[11] and Ride the Cyclone but has also had credits on a number of television films produced by Front Street Pictures for the Hallmark Channel,[7] and on the children's television series Pup Academy. He appeared in the music video for Victoria musician Adrian Chalifour's single "Open Heart".[12] He also appeared as the drag mother to British Columbian rapper bbno$ for the music video for his song "imma".[13]

File:RuPaul DragCon 2022 (52073262836).jpg
Jimbo at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2022

He appeared on the first season of Canada's Drag Race in 2020, emerging as a popular fan favourite[14] and winning the key Snatch Game challenge for his performance as Joan Rivers,[15] but was eliminated from the competition in fourth place behind finalists Priyanka, Scarlett BoBo and Rita Baga.[16] For Fierté Montréal's special online edition of its annual Drag Superstars show, which featured all of the Canada's Drag Race queens in prerecorded video performances, Jimbo performed a drag recreation of The Buggles' 1979 hit "Video Killed the Radio Star".[citation needed]

Following Canada's Drag Race he toured the United Kingdom as part of the Klub Kids show with Rock M Sakura and Erika Klash,[17] and was the only queen from the season not to appear at any dates on the Canada's Drag Race Live at the Drive-In tour;[18] however, he did participate alongside Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo and Rita Baga in an online panel discussion as part of the Just for Laughs festival.[19]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, he also created a line of face masks through his design studio, with every purchase matched by a donation of a free mask to a homeless or low-income person,[2] and launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of House of Jimbo, a comedy and variety series he hopes to launch in the future.[20] Insell has described House of Jimbo as "the framework of a kids show, but really made for adults", comparable to Pee-wee's Playhouse or The Hilarious House of Frightenstein,[21] and the show reached its Kickstarter goal by the end of October 2020. At the same time the Chemainus-based Riot Brewing Company introduced Jimbo, a boysenberry-flavoured craft beer whose profits will go in part to funding House of Jimbo.[20]

In 2021, he made a return appearance in the second season of Canada's Drag Race, appearing in the third episode as the killer in the slasher film-themed acting challenge "Screech".[22] He returned in the third season of Canada's Drag Race in 2022, appearing as a guest judge in the episode "Bitch Stole My Look".[23]

In January 2022, he was announced as one of the nine contestants on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World.[24] After winning the first two episodes of the season,[3] Jimbo landed in the bottom in the third episode and was eliminated by Pangina Heals, after Pangina Heals won a lipsync against Dutch contestant Janey Jacké to "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)" by Vengaboys.[25] Jimbo's early elimination was dubbed one of the most "controversial" in the history of the franchise.[26]

Jimbo returned to the Drag Race franchise to compete on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2023). After winning a record-tying 4 challenges over the course of the season, Jimbo was crowned the winner of the season and earned a cash prize of $200,000 plus $20,000 for the 4 challenges he won, totalling $220,000.[4] After the airing of the season, Jimbo was announced to host her own WOW Presents Plus series, It's my Special Show!, which premiered on August 7, 2023.[27] In November 2023, Jimbo signed with talent agencies WME and Producer Entertainment Group.[28]

In February 2024 Jimbo competed on Family Feud Canada, with a team consisting of his siblings Jeff and Rebecca, and Jimbo's and Jeff's husbands.

At the 2025 Just for Laughs festival, Jimbo and his Canada's Drag Race castmate Lemon taped a roast battle for the forthcoming fifth season of Roast Battle Canada.[29]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2020 Canada's Drag Race (season 1) Herself Contestant (4th place)
2021 Canada's Drag Race (season 2) Guest; Episode 3
2022 RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World (series 1) Contestant (7th place)
Canada's Drag Race (season 3) Guest judge
2023 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 8)[4] Contestant (Winner)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked
GMA3: What You Need to Know[30] Guest
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen[31] Guest
Good Morning America[32] Guest
RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 5) Special guest
2024 Drag Race Belgium (season 2) Guest
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 9)[33] Guest
TBA Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale † Judge

Music videos

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Year Title Artist Ref.
2019 "Open Heart" Adrian Chalifour [12]
2020 "imma" bbno$ [13]
2021 "Bitch I'm Busy" Priyanka [34]
2022 "Don't Call Me" Joseph Shepherd [35]
2023 "True Colors" Kylie Sonique Love [36]
2025 "Big Top" Self [37]
2025 "NSFW" bbno$ [38]

Internet series

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Year Title Role Ref.
2021 Jimbo vs. Peas Herself [39]
2022 Bring Back My Girls Herself / Guest [40]
2023 Meet the Queens Herself / Stand-alone special [41]
EW News Flash Herself / Guest [42]
BuzzFeed Celeb Herself / Guest [43]
React to TikTok Trends by Allure Herself / Guest [44]
It's My Special Show! Herself / Host [27]
The Awardist Herself / Guest [45]
2024 Drag Me to The Movies Various [46][47]

Discography

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All credits adapted from Spotify and Apple Music.[48][49]

Singles

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As lead artist

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Year Title Album Writer(s) Producer(s)
2022 "Free & Horny" Non-album singles Andrew Taylor, Jimbo Insell Andrew Taylor
"Angel"
"Pumpkin Tits"
2023 "Stitch"
2025 "Big Top" James Insell, Drew Louis, Jayelle, Coen Hutton Drew Louis
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Year Title Album
2020 "Not Sorry Aboot It"
(with the cast of Canada's Drag Race, season 1) 		Non-album singles
2023 "Money, Success, Fame, Glamour" (Disco version)
(with the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, season 8)
"Joan! The Unauthorized Rusical"
(with the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, season 8) 		Joan! The Unauthorized Rusical Album[50]
"Trinity Ruins Christmas"
(Trinity the Tuck featuring Jimbo) 		Trinity Ruins Christmas: The Musical
"Good Enough"
(Trinity the Tuck featuring Jimbo)

References

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b Mike Devlin, "Victoria's Jimbo seeks drag-queen crown" Archived October 15, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Victoria Times-Colonist, July 2, 2020.
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  7. ^ a b c Mollie Kaye, "James and his giant peach add sparkle to Victoria" Archived August 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Focus on Victoria, September 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  10. ^ Adrian Chamberlain, "James and the Giant Peach goes high-tech" Archived July 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Victoria Times-Colonist, November 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Travis Paterson, "Rocky Horror returns to the stage Wednesday" Archived October 18, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Victoria News, October 13, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Don Descoteau, "Chalifour bringing Joy to Victoria this weekend" Archived October 21, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Monday Magazine, November 25, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Bryen Dunn, "Canada's Drag Race – and then there were three!" Archived January 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. The Buzz, August 2020.
  14. ^ Joey Nolfi, "Jimbo ate sandwiches, the runway, and our hearts on Canada's Drag Race" Archived October 30, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly, August 27, 2020.
  15. ^ Kevin Ritchie, "Canada's Drag Race queen Jimbo on hyper-sexualized drag, the judging backlash and eating on the air" Archived September 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Now, August 28, 2020.
  16. ^ Sarah Taher, "After the Sashay: All the world loves a Jimbo" Archived October 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Daily Xtra, August 28, 2020.
  17. ^ Markus Bidaux, "'Canada's Drag Race': Jimbo spills the tea on Judge Jeffrey, Untucked and coming to the UK" Archived October 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Attitude, August 28, 2020.
  18. ^ Tyler Jadah, "Canada's Drag Race is coming to Montreal's drive-in venue this month" Archived October 2, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Daily Hive, September 10, 2020.
  19. ^ Jenelle Riley, "For Montreal's Just for Laughs, the Show Will Go On(line)" Archived October 13, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Variety, October 2, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Graham Cox, "Local brewery collaborates on new beer with popular Vancouver Island drag queen, Jimbo" Archived October 14, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. CHEK-DT, October 8, 2020.
  21. ^ Michael Cook, "Canada's Drag Race Standout Jimbo: 'We Have An Opportunity To Showcase Our Unique Take On Drag & Who We Are'" Archived September 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Instinct, September 6, 2020.
  22. ^ Kevin O'Keeffe, "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 2, Episode 3 recap: Scream, queen" Archived November 6, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Xtra!, October 29, 2021.
  23. ^ Joey Nolfi, "Brooke Lynn Hytes reunites with Werk Room crush Miss Vanjie on Canada's Drag Race season 3" Archived June 29, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. EW, June 29, 2022.
  24. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  28. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  29. ^ "Roast Battle Canada: head-to-head savage insult battles, where no punchline is off-limits". The Montrealer, July 10, 2025.
  30. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  34. ^ Corey Atad, "'Canada's Drag Race' Winner Priyanka Releasing Debut EP 'Taste Test' Archived July 18, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. ET Canada, July 14, 2021.
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