If you stay puckered, you don’t have to get puckered! The third time was officially the charm for Lemon. As the winner of Canada’s Drag Race vs the World 2, Lemon proved that hard work and determination can get you to the end. With so much to prove following her last stint on Drag Race, Lemon was eager to turn her journey around on the reality competition series. Competing against some of the biggest names in Drag Race herstory, following her victory, Lemon joked, “It was an honor to compete with absolute legends, and it was an even bigger honor to beat them.”

Canada’s Drag Race vs the World 2 was a six-episode adventure as nine drag superstars from around the globe fought tooth and nail to become the Queen of the Motherpucking World. Hosted by Brooke Lynn Hytes, the season featured a cast including Alexis Mateo (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Cheryl (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK), Eureka (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Kennedy Davenport (RuPaul’s Drag Race), La Kahena (Drag Race France), Le Fil (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK), Lemon (Canada’s Drag Race), Miss Fiercalicious (Canada’s Drag Race), and Tynomi Banks (Canada’s Drag Race).

Lemon Was Never Lower Than Safe

Throughout her journey on Canada’s Drag Race vs the World 2, Lemon proved that she had grown as an artist since she last appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World. As the first boot of the season, Lemon was devastated. But the minute she stepped foot on the mainstage on Canada’s Drag Race vs the World 2, she was determined to show her evolution as a drag artist. “One thing, you know, as an artist is that the journey continues and continues and continues forever and there will always be something that you can work on. Something to improve on. And something to do that’s never been done before. The truth of the matter is I feel like everything has had a glow up,” Lemon said. “I feel like I’ve really come into my own in terms of comedy, and doing comedy challenges, and being so confident in that. I feel like I’ve worked on my stage presence so much. And connecting with the lyrics, and emoting. I feel like my looks from season one to this season are, you know night and day.”

And improve she did. Throughout the entire season, Lemon never placed below safe. Never once was she at risk of being eliminated. Displaying her glow-up allowed the judges to see that her determination to win the crown was ever-present. She won two Maxi Challenges on the season. Once during the premiere’s girl group challenge and second during “Snatch Game: the Rusical.” But even with a strong track record, the fandom was split on the outcome as the season went on. Lemon revealed, “I did very well this season, so I was getting a lot of messages saying, you know, it’s yours. I was also getting a lot of messages saying it’s set up for you. So there was a hope that I was going to get it and there was also this overwhelming feeling of like, okay, well if I don’t win, then everyone’s going to be dragging me forever.” But all of that meant nothing when Lemon sat at a viewing party, with her parents and friends in the crowd, hearing Brooke Lynn Hytes announce her as the winner. “The moment of Brooke actually saying it was was euphoria. I just felt so crazy in the moment. I just was crying. I was screaming ‘oh my god’ over and over again.” It was a dream come true for a journey that had started only just a handful of years prior.

For Lemon, winning Drag Race was a goal ever since she began her drag journey. A journey I can exclusively share that I witnessed back in New York around 2018. It was a manifestation then for Lemon. Then, on the finale episode, when asked which box she wanted to choose to determine the song for her Lip Sync Smack Down for the Crown, she manifested being a judge on the panel when she chose the previous winner Ra’jah O’Hara’s. She said, ” I was joking about the seat thing, but really, I was just ready to be where Ra’jah is. And I just, I love Ra’jah. And I was so happy that she won her season. And I felt like, yeah, picking the box that she had in front of her was my way of like trying to get some of her good luck. And I think I did.” In the first round of the Lip Sync Smack Down for the Crown, she defeated Kennedy Davenport in a lip sync that host Brooke Lynn Hytes considered to be one of the best ever. Then, in the final round, she defeated four-time Drag Race contestant Alexis Mateo in a lip sync to an iconic Celine Dion song. And as they say, the rest is history.

Lemon Played the Game for Herself

On a regular season of Drag Race, it’s often the host and the judges that make the final determination on who goes home. This season, it was the same. But before that could happen, there was a twist. The Golden Beaver. The winner of the week’s Maxi Challenge had the power to save one of the bottom three queens from lip syncing. Lemon, as the holder of the Golden Beaver twice, made two crucial decisions that altered the trajectory of the season. First, she saved Alexis Mateo week one, where La Kahena went home first again. Then, in week five, she saved Kennedy Davenport, resulting in the elimination of Miss Fiercalicious. Does she stand by these decisions? Fervently yes. Speaking with Lemon and Cheryl prior to the crowning, Lemon shared she was in an alliance of one.

Even if her good friend Cheryl was there, every decision she made was to get herself to the end, beating the best and remaining kind. She said, “I personally just had to play it as fairly to me as I felt possible.” She knows the entire season could have been different had she used strategy to save La Kahena week one, but this is the tone she was determined to set.

“Before I was ever on Drag Race, before Canada had its own Drag Race, I’ve always wanted to be the finalist, you know? It’s like, we all watch, and you identify so much with that moment. And I’ve always wanted that. So, you know, missing out on it twice…I’m just so thankful for a third opportunity and a third try. And I feel like this was a competition where I felt like finally, I was ready to compete at the level that I wanted to deliver at,” Lemon shared. She brought a strong package with her, earning acclaim from the judges who week after week, complimented her runways, nothing they saw her improvement. The diversity and strength of her visuals on the runway became that final rhinestone in her eventual crown.

Lemon Gives Her Younger Self Advice

As noted, I knew Lemon from her days as a fledgling New York City drag artist. Having judged her in a competition called Lady Liberty, it’s been a special and unique journey watching her grow from aspiring drag queen to winner of arguably the biggest drag competition on the planet. Usually, the contestants will have an opportunity to give their younger selves advice in the finale episode. While it didn’t happen this season, I gave Lemon the opportunity to do so in our interview. I showed her a picture I took from 2018 during one of her first performances and asked what advice she had for baby Lemon. Here’s what she said. “Let me just say that one of the notes I got from one of the judges that night was, and I quote, ‘better hair for talent.’ And I would just say that my human hair upgrade of that exact wig is the better hair that they were looking for. I think I would say to young Lemon, there’s no limit. And you know, the truth of the matter is, if you want it, you can get it, and I think that’s true for everyone,” she said.

She mentioned that when she offers advice to new queens, it’s all about how kindness is key. Be friendly. Be fun to be around. She took those lessons she learned to heart, and in the end, it worked out in her favor. “I think Lemon had all the luck to have great teachers and great family and great friends that already gave me those lessons and continued to give me those lessons after every setback. Without my family, without my friends, I don’t think I could have given myself that anyways,” she finished.

Lemon Received Love From Her Winning Bestie
Image via World of Wonder

As fans remember fondly, during Lemon’s first season on Canada’s Drag Race, she developed a very close friendship with that season’s winner, Priyanka. The duo continued their friendship into the real world, collaborating on an assortment of projects. And have no fear, Priyanka came through with some well wishes for her “zesty bestie” following her win. “She Face Timed me as soon as it happened. She was on stage literally trying to call me. It was really overwhelming. I feel like I’ve been such a cheerleader for Pri, and she’s been such a cheerleader for me. And even from the first moment we met in the Werk Room and neither of us knew either of us would ever be winners, it was just, I just saw that thing in her. And I feel she saw it in me. You know, that’s all you can ask for from a friend is for them to kind of see and nurture your star power. So Pri has been very that for me forever and, to have a bestie who’s a winner to ask the questions like, ‘well now what do I do?’ It’s, really nice and really helpful. I love her. I’m, I’m glad to be twinners.” Expect a bestie-winner photoshoot in the near future!

So what’s next for the newly crowned winner? She’s working on her next album. She’s eager to continue to do more television, this time scripted TV. “I also feel drag needs to be seen in a way that’s not competitive. Where we can just have fun and enjoy drag for what it is without comparing or trying to pick up every little detail.” No matter what happens next for Lemon, a new chapter has been written. She finished what she set out to do. Win Drag Race.

All episodes of Canada’s Drag Race vs the World 2 are available to stream on WOW Presents Plus.

Stream on WOW Presents Plus