RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8 winner Jimbo just wants the world to get weird under her reign
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The time has come: It's finally Jimbo's special day. Well, actually, "it's my special year!" the Canadian queen screams in a coronation interview with EW's Quick Drag podcast, recorded minutes after the oddball empress won RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8.
True to her drag clown persona, she sits with us inside a Manhattan hotel lounge, decked out in an elegant Diego Montoya design that can only be described as The Simpsons' Krusty the Clown on acid — the only vibe you'd expect (and desire) from Jimbo, who's just about the only person on Earth who can make a big-breasted clown look this inviting.
Get into it all in Jimbo's winner interview below, in which she talks about the inspiration before her finale song, the original outfit she was supposed to wear for the lip-sync against runner-up Kandy Muse, and which hotel room prop she stole to incorporate into the performance.
Mettie Ostrowski for EW 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8' winner Jimbo for EW.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Jimbo, it's your special day! What was your first thought when Ru crowned you?
JIMBO: My first thought was excitement, full-blast, into outer space excitement, a release of joy. It's so much planning, dreaming, from starting as a little baby drag clown and dreaming about one day touring the world and making it on RuPaul's Drag Race and impressing someone who is so important to me. RuPaul is such an icon to me. I look up to her. To make her laugh and to make her proud…. is the greatest gift.
It's unfortunate that we have to contextualize the win in the moment, what does the victory mean in terms of what you want to do for the community?
My mom said, "People are going to try and stop you. You're going to have ideas and dreams, people are going to tell you no, it's not possible, they're going to try to get you to sit on the couch and let the days roll by." She said, "Fight for your dreams, fight for your voice, fight for your vision, and have the best time and people will join you." That resonated with me because I love joy and I love sharing joy. Drag is this beautiful reminder that we're all more similar than we are different. It's a celebration of life.
It's a powerful message for young queer people to aspire to. It's also powerful to see a queer person with a $200,000 check. What's the first thing you're going to buy?
I think I'm going to gold-plate my Tic Tac from my Tic Tac chat. I actually got one…. It was wild walking on set that day, walking into that moment, I was like, I'm in my dreams, and I'm walking in my living dreams.
Was it you or Kandy that said you didn't get it at the lunch? Did you have to steal it?
I think they probably weren't anticipating me really wanting it that badly, I think they were like, it's just a prop or whatever. No, no, I want that Tic Tac. They went and got a special satin bag and presented it to me in a beautiful bag. They were very thoughtful. I think when they realized how important it was to me, they were like, Oh s---, okay, they really want that Tic Tac, go get them one!
Since you've done so well on so many different seasons of Drag Race, have there been talks of you joining Canada's Drag Race as host or joining Brooke on the panel?
I guess we can always dream. The beauty about Drag Race is it's a secret that's always unfolding. I'm so grateful to be part of the story, the legacy, so I'm grateful to be woven in in any way possible.
Has anyone asked?
Oh my God, no. Well, the closest thing was when I was a judge on Canada's Drag Race with Brooke Lynn. Maybe that was my screen test. I have no idea, I hope so. I had the best time, it's really tricky…. I'd love to be able to help people and uplift them.
Mettie Ostrowski for EW 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8' winner Jimbo for EW.
Your original song was about not remembering corn, but also remembering being born. What was the inspiration?
My birth story is kind of a cool one. I was born in my amniotic sac, my water sac, so I was a special birth. My mom [compared it to a] lucky Chinese water baby, because in some mythology in some Chinese culture there's luck around that kind of birth. I came out blue and in my water sac, and my mom has told that story so many times I kind of do feel like I remember being born. In terms of my Drag Race path, it felt like I remember the birth of Jimbo the Drag Clown as we know today in the start of Canada's Drag Race in that black outfit, which was the [earlier] version of the white outfit.
In the final lip-sync, we saw classic Jimbo with the large breastplate and "FUNK ME" written on the return of your tittybutt. Were you inspired by Jessica and Jaymes' success with breastplate lip-syncs?
I was basically in those moments trying to use what Ru told me, which was take elements that've worked for you already and don't reinvent the wheel and bring those elements into your lip-sync. She said if I'd done Shirley Temple I would've won, so, going into the lip-sync I was thinking, How can I use something that would make Mama Ru laugh? I thought about the tits from my pageant, I thought about my tittybutt…. I took [them] and sewed my butt off. I also used my shoes from the Rusical performance, the shoes I had as the old Joan. Part of my slip-up in past lip-syncing was I wore seven-inch platform heels.
What were you originally going to wear for the lip-sync?
I had a beautiful custom outfit, a corset with beautiful ostrich feathers on it. It was a stunning look, but I realized that, for me, it takes more than a pretty look in that moment. These beautiful looks are not what's going to win me this lip-sync, so I have to do what everyone is telling me to do and do my style of performance…. I had to start from scratch. I actually stole the telephone out of my hotel room and covered it in pink fabric. That's the telephone I pull out of my sleeve…. I put it back. I sewed it in such a way that it was slipcover for the cord and headset, and I put it back. No one even knew.
The breastplate reminds me of the pushback you got at the beginning of the season when you wore the breastplate into the Werk Room. Have your views on wearing those things changed since hearing the response?
What people need to realize is drag is a self-expression, it's about joy and seeing somebody living their truth and best self, and sharing that. Clowning is often a mirror, so what I'm doing is truthful and real to me, and it's a mirror to those watching. You look into it and see all those things that you've been taught or conditioned to think about sex, gender, beauty, and performance, and what you see is what you see, and it's what you've been taught to see, and that has nothing to do with me. I can't control that. All I can do is be truthful and know my intention. My intention is to spread love, joy, make people laugh, and create change in the world through positivity, storytelling, and beauty, and big breasts. I like things big. Clowning is all about being big, and I'm not going to make myself small for anybody.
You had such a cute relationship to your sister and alliance member, Kandy, but again she's received so much hatred from the fandom. What do you think is most important for fans to know about Kandy?
Kandy is the sweetest creative pit bull out there. She's developed an armor to protect herself, and it's not been easy for her. What she's done by having a voice and a platform and place to be herself and be celebrated, she needs to be seen for all of the good and joy she brings, and she also needs to be celebrated as a fun TV character.
Paramount+ Jimbo winning 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8'
Kandy previously revealed that she got bored and wanted to stir drama, so she told a whole van of gals that they should vote you out. Was it hard to exist in that space knowing everyone was against you?
It's kind of weird summer camp moments where you're kind of all there and there's only one hot dog at the end of the day. Everyone's smiling and nice, but when it comes to dinner, we're all hungry. It didn't surprise me…. I think there's something magic about playing a cutthroat game that somehow works for everyone there, and there was this perfect balance between serving self and serving the cast and show.
Was there ever a thought in the back of your mind of it working?
I know that's why that bitch said, "I was just kidding." [Laughs] Maybe you're just joking. I told her not to. I actually forgot that she said that, so when Heidi told me she was coming for me, I was really surprised, like, we had an alliance!
Did either of you discuss an alliance backup if the other was eliminated?
If Kandy had left, it would've been Jessica Wild and Alexis [Michelle]. Jessica and I had each other's back, but we didn't have an alliance.... The other option was Alexis, and I think that would've been a fun option, too…. Would Alexis have won the whole thing? I don't think so, but it would've been fun to see her cry trying! [Laughs]
What are you most proud of from this season?
At one time, my feminine side, my gayness, my weirdness, was perceived to be my worst enemy, it was the thing that people saw that made me different and knew I wasn't straight or an average boy — all those things I was trying to be, but wasn't. It's crazy that what was once my weakness is now my greatest strength…. I've been able to lean into that and it's given people around the world permission to lean into their weirdness.
Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions with the cast, special guests, and more.
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