This Kelowna drag queen is about to hit the national stage

A Kelowna drag queen is about to take a step from the local scene to the national stage.

Ella Lamoureux, as she is known, was contacted by OUTtv inviting her to join the cast of Call Me Mother, a new, Canadian produced drag queen competition program.

It will premier on Oct. 25, and much of what audiences will see in the opening episode will be a surprise to Lamoureux, too.

“All of it is going to be a surprise. They kept us in the dark for quite a long time after we finished filming and they didn’t really start talking to us until a few weeks before the official promo came out,” Lamoureux told Kelowna10.

Lamoureux said this is the first season of a new type of show and producers didn’t want details leaked ahead of time.

“Which makes sense because us as drag performers, we are big personalities. If they’re like me, I cannot keep a secret,” she added.

What we do know, similar to shows like The Voice, is that contestants are separated into teams. They will be led and coached by prominent members of the drag community while competing against each other

The grand prize is $25,000, with other smaller prizes handed out throughout the season, totaling about $50,000 overall.

In Kelowna, Lamoureux performs three times a week at Friends of Dorothy Lounge, where they plan on hosting a watch party for the first episode.

“Knowing her there’s going to be a lot of commentary," FOD manager Kieran Frey said. "Whether she’s going to pause the show or not, I don’t know about that."

Purely a coincidence, the watch party happens to fall on the start of Kelowna’s Pride Week. Pride was supposed to be held in September but was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Both Frey and Lamoureux said they intend to be involved in as many events as possible. Friends of Dorothy is considered, by many, to be an unofficial hub for Pride Week and the LGBTQ2S+ community.

Due to current health restrictions, the pride parade was cancelled, but there are other planned events happening throughout Kelowna, ending with a festival and cabaret at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on Oct. 30.