Jimbo Explains How She Made Winning ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Look Easy
Q&A
Third time’s the charm. Canadian drag queen Jimbo is now the reigning queen of the RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars universe, having beat Kandy Muse in the Friday, July 21 Season 8 finale on Paramount+. With her win, she becomes the first international performer to take home the main stage crown.
TV Insider caught up with the high-fashion clown after the finale to talk about her reign, how she’ll be spending it, and how she made winning look so easy, plus what it was like to go up against Kandy — a queen whom host RuPaul has often said is one of her favorites in the business.
As the newly crowned queen tells us, Jimbo’s longstanding confidence in her work made winning always seem possible, but the signature unpredictability of Drag Race‘s structure kept her on her toes. Here, dive into All Stars Season 8 with its new champion.
Congratulations on your win! I was rooting for you all season long.
Jimbo: Thank you! It is an absolute dream come true.
You absolutely killed it. So, when you’ve won a majority of the challenges by a pretty large margin like you did, what kind of doubts about winning come up when you’re working on that final episode?
Well, Drag Race is one of these amazing games and competitions where anything can happen at any point. And really it all comes down to that last episode and your performance on the main stage in front of Mama Ru. She does take into account the entire season, but you know, at the end of the day, it’s not always the last taste in your mouth. And so I was really nervous about the choreo, and [Ru is] also a huge fan of Kandy Muse, so the wins definitely had me confident going into the finale, but I also knew anything could happen.
Jimbo & Kandy Muse perform their final choreographed numbers in the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Season 8 finale (Credit: World of Wonder/Paramount+)
Right. And I noticed that every week this season, you were very easily confident about your creative decisions. I wonder if you’ve always been that way as an artist or if that’s the result of years of work?
Well, I think I like taking risks and that’s all part of my art. And what I really love about the art form of drag and being a performance artist is using all the tricks in your bag and pulling them out when you need them. Drag is also all about confidence and kind of selling what you’re trying to sell. So, yeah, I believe in what I’m doing, and that’s part of how I’ve gotten this far. I’ve really had to been able to champion myself and really put my thoughts and my visions forward.
This being your third Drag Race run, how has your drag evolved do you think, from your first season to this All Stars win?
It has definitely evolved in terms of just trying to get my ideas a little bit more concise. I feel like I have a lot of ideas, and I have a lot of things that I like to do and add and say through my drag and my art. And so this season I felt like I really had a good idea of focusing on what I wanted to deliver and deliver it in a way that was polished and elevated so that Mama Ru saw me for the all star that I wanna be.
Clearly, you succeeded. One of my favorite runways of yours was the Adam and Eve look with the face on the back. That was incredible. How did that idea come to life?
Thank you! So, that’s by a designer [named] Joshuan Aponte. Basically, that look was inspired by spies. There are these shoes that spies used to wear, where the back of the shoe had another shoe on it so that when they’re walking in one direction, the footprint it leaves behind is walking the other direction. I always thought that was really cool, and so that’s what that look came from.
Jimbo and Kandy Muse perform the final lip-sync of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Season 8 (Credit: World of Wonder/Paramount+)
To talk about your finale performance, were you feeling the pressure while working on this performance or were you enjoying taking it all in, being in the finale? Did you trust it would work out?
Well, basically I had another outfit planned for the finale, but during my critiques in the season, I really found that they were looking for something more unique and special from my point of view. So, I luckily had a confetti popper that I had brought with me for an emergency, and I ended up sewing a look in the Werk Room there and making a specific performance to end up beating Kandy. I was really nervous but excited. I put in the work every night to make sure I had something that would blow Mama Ru away.
It looked like you and Kandy were having the time of your lives during your final lip-sync. Were you?
Yeah, I was having a lot of fun! I said to Kandy that I had a little trick for us, that confetti canon, and I had made that look with my big titty butt. I was really trying to do something that was gonna be really fun and be a fun celebration together at the end. So yeah, I wanted to just convey joy, I think.
You definitely did. I wonder who your biggest artistic influences are? Your choreographed finale number felt like a David Bowie and Little Shop of Horrors mashup, which I loved.
[Laughs] Oh my God, I love that! I feel so seen. I love Little Shop of Horrors. I love David Bowie from Labyrinth, and I love Pee-wee Herman, Elvira, and of course, RuPaul. I’m inspired by comedians and fashion and a little bit of everything. Pop culture, it all goes in like the sun and then strikes you in the heart.
World of Wonder/Paramount+
Did you anticipate how much fans would want to see you in your Shirley Temple Snatch Game look after the show? I saw that Shirley Temple/”Padam” performance online. That was amazing.
It’s been going crazy! I’ve been going around doing my Shirley for everyone. Everyone just gets to kick out of it and they laugh their heads off. I think it just has a really fun energy. I don’t really ever try to think too far ahead. Before I went on that day, they had these cans in the mini-challenge. So I said, “can you grab me those can lids?” And I strapped them on my feet and ran out there and that tap dance just happened spontaneously. All of it was a big surprise to me too, so it’s so exciting to see how fans are gonna react. It blows me away.
Other than your own, what was your favorite Snatch Game performance of this season?
I thought Alexis [Michelle] did great as Bea Arthur. I love Golden Girls, and she had some funny moments. She sold me as an old woman for sure. [Laughs]
What looks of your own this season made you look at yourself and say, “Damn, I killed it”?
That finale look — I love that look with the hair horns and kind of collage print. I love my look by CHRISHABANA that was the cell phone, the dark influencer look where I’m covered in all these cellphones flashing. It was kind of like a futuristic Met Gala. There’s so many looks actually. I’m so proud of my whole package. It’s really so exciting. I love fashion, and I love how drag is this combination of art and performance and fashion. So yeah, I feel very proud.
World of Wonder/Paramount+
What do you do with all these looks after the season? Are you going to enshrine them? Keep wearing them?
Well, I have all of my looks from Canada’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World all in garment bags and all organized. I’m preparing for my exhibit someday with all my looks. And I take them out on the road. The fans love seeing the looks in real life, so I like to tour the ones I can and the others I save for the museum one day.
And how was the vibe between you and Kandy during that final episode?
Kandy and I are really good friends. He’s one of my best friends, and we’ve had so much fun on tour and on set. It was kind of this unique situation where we both wanted the crown so badly and simultaneously really being OK with it going either way. I really love Kandy, and when you’re in the end with one of your best friends, it’s easy to to be rooting for them. It’s easy to be able to go, “OK, well no matter what happens here, we both really showed our best and it’s gonna be up to Mama Ru in the end.” So, the energy was really positive. We were both feeling really supportive, and then I think when you watch the reaction, you can really see all of the love there, that we both were there for each other and really excited.
I think that came through. Was there a vote this season that was particularly hard for you?
Pretty much every vote is so hard because you create this bond with everyone so quickly. Even though you know you need to get rid of everybody so that you can win, it doesn’t make it easy at all. At the end of the day, we’re all there to follow our dreams. We’re all there to show the world our point of view. I would say the hardest one — and that wasn’t necessarily an elimination — was Heidi N Closet quitting.
That was a pretty shocking moment. It’s not often that queens self-eliminate. Being a close friend of hers, how was it for you in that moment?
I know that pressure comes in all different forms. It’s a really intense moment when you’re there and you’re filming, and there’s just so many expectations. I think she did what she needed to do for herself in that moment. She had to just decide [to say], “I’m not in the best place to be competing.” She wanted to show herself in her best light when she decided to leave, so I support her in her decision.
To wrap up, how do you want to spend your reign?
I want to spend my reign connecting with the people that have basically made it possible for me to be here. And I have so many projects coming up. I have a solo tour around North America. I have a cruise with Heidi, Kandy, and Jessica [Wild] around the Caribbean. And I have a new show on Wow Presents Plus, an Untucked show. So, my plan is to just keep making art and keep sharing joy and keep spreading love and keep meeting people and having the best time.
Well, congratulations again. What a memorable performance you gave this season.
You’re so sweet, thank you. It was a dream come true, and I’m so proud of myself and my legacy that I got to show all of the things that I love about performance.
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Season 8 Streaming Now, Paramount+
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