What to know
- After placing second on Canada’s Drag Race season four, Matrix returned for All Stars determined to shed the “runner-up” label—and ultimately won the crown and $100,000 prize.
- Matrix started strong, winning episodes two and three, but landed in the bottom three in episode four and had to face Makayla Couture. They won the face-off and stayed in the competition.
- Matrix incorporated their Chinese heritage into their drag throughout the season, including their “Empress of the North” look, and hopes their success inspires the next generation of Queer Asian performers.
- After years of being known as a runner-up, Matrix said the victory proved something to themselves, their loved ones and the world. They’re now looking ahead to potentially touring internationally, particularly across Asia.
Canadian Drag Queen Aurora Matrix ditched their “runner-up” label and snatched the crown on Canada’s Drag Race All Stars. After serving looks all season, they spill to Now Toronto how they turned the competition into their own glittering comeback.
Matrix was runner-up on season four of Canada’s Drag Race before returning to the franchise and winning Canada’s Drag Race All Stars last month.
Crave’s six-episode reality competition follows fan-favourite Queens’ return to compete for a $100,000 cash prize and the title of “Canada’s Ultimate All-Star.”
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Matrix’s journey on the show wasn’t linear. From winning challenges to landing in a face-off in the bottom three, Matrix shared their experience on the reality TV series with Now Toronto.
Coming to Canada’s Drag Race All Stars after being labelled a runner-up
Matrix had previously competed on Canada’s Drag Race’s fourth season, where they placed second. Since that moment, the “runner-up” label has followed the Drag Queen around.
So, upon their return to the franchise, now in Canada’s Drag Race All Stars, Matrix knew they had to up their game.
“I came back with a mission… I knew I had to do better than the last time, and I feel like that was what gave me the edge this time around. I was so determined to make it to the end and make it to the top,” Matrix told Now Toronto.
They were nervous seeing other big names in the Drag industry, including Pythia, who was a judge in RuPaul’s Drag Race, and other seasons’ runner-ups, but decided to do their best anyway.
Combining their Chinese culture with Drag
From the first episode, Matrix sprinkled their East Asian heritage into their Drag.
Bringing back their dragon-body wrap outfit from Canada’s Drag Race season four, Matrix twisted it up as the “Empress of the North” with a dragon appliqué for the pageant challenge.
“It was the perfect opportunity to do something a little more glam, a little more polished, and then gold is a colour that in ancient China was only used and worn by the Emperor and the Empress; by royalty,” Matrix explained. “It was the perfect moment to bring all those beautiful elements together and show that I am the Empress of the North, and this is the final form of who Aurora Matrix is.”
Getting judged by Drag Queen Priyanka
Priyanka and Jimbo were the main judges on Canada’s Drag Race All Stars, and Matrix was honoured to be judged by Priyanka: a Drag Queen with whom they started their Drag career alongside.
“I was in my first year of university, and I’ve always loved performing. I’ve loved makeup, and then obviously, I discovered RuPaul’s Drag Race, and I was like, ‘This is so entertaining!’ And then one day, I saw that Woody’s did an open stage, and I was like, ‘Why not give it a try?’” Matrix shared.
But Matrix had actually met Priyanka at that same open mic, as Priyanka was the host.
So, Matrix shared that her being one of the judges felt like a “full circle moment.”
In Canada’s Drag Race All Stars’ second episode during the girl group challenge, Priyanka called Matrix a “raptress,” to which the Queen couldn’t contain their excitement at the compliment.
“Coming from Priyanka, who literally made her whole Drag career into a pop star Drag career, I feel like she is the type of person who I can take that feedback from and learn from,” Matrix said.
Priyanka’s someone Matrix looks up to, especially now that Priyanka will be acting in Queer hockey drama Heated Rivalry’s second season.
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“It’s just so cool seeing these Asian Queer role models do such amazing things. I’m so excited for her, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out for her as well,” Matrix said.
The competition
Matrix was in the top three in the first episode, and the winner in the second and third episodes.
But the fourth episode didn’t deliver the results Matrix hoped for. It was the first time they had placed in the bottom three.
Matrix pleaded her case to her competing Drag Queens to earn the golden beaver, saving them from the potential elimination. Despite forming alliances with multiple Queens, they betrayed Matrix, and the Queen had to have a face-off against Makayla Couture.
Matrix won the face-off, but looking back, they wish they entered that challenge with more confidence.
“Thinking back, I wish I had said, ‘Don’t save me. Keep me in the bottom. Don’t give me the golden beaver. I’m gonna do what I do best, and I’m gonna lip sync. I’m gonna save myself,’” they said.
In the end, that’s what the Queen ended up doing anyway.
Despite saving themselves, they can’t help but feel a bit of sting at the other Queens’ actions.
“I feel a little betrayal… but you know what, there’s $100,000 at the end of the race, and I don’t blame them. I’m gonna take it as a compliment that they want to save someone who was doing poorly in the challenges, and take out the girl who’s been the frontrunner the whole competition,” Matrix shared.
For the fifth episode, Matrix successfully channeled their inner Mayor Olivia Chow and performed well in the Snatch game, a challenge that had caused their elimination in the fourth season of Canada’s Drag Race.
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“Olivia Chow really is a fun time girl. At any event or any place you see her, she’s always smiling, dancing, and chatting with the people. I just thought, if I can channel Miss Olivia Chow’s energy, I can’t go wrong,” Matrix said.
‘I had proven myself to myself, to my family, to my friends, to the world’: Matrix on being crowned ‘Canada’s Ultimate All Star’
After numerous challenges, winning some, and having a face-off to be saved from elimination, Matrix was finally crowned “Canada’s Ultimate All Star.”
Now, Matrix can finally say goodbye to their runner-up label.
“I had proven myself to myself, to my family, to my friends, to the world,” Matrix told Now Toronto. “For the past two and a half, three years since season four, the title of runner-up has just been stuck to me. And at a certain point, I’m done. I’m not a runner-up. I’m a motherf***ing winner.”
Coming from a generation that grew up with Drag Race and being able to say they’ve actually won All-Stars feel surreal to Matrix, they shared.
“I feel like I’m still letting that sink in right now. There’s still a little part of me that’s like, ‘Is this real? Am I dreaming?’” they said.
Matrix hopes to be an inspiration for other Queer, Asian people.
“I really hope that this next generation of Gaysians, as I like to call them, see me and see that I got to do this, and I was strong, and I pushed through — and that they can do it as well,” Matrix said.
What’s next for Matrix? Hopefully, an international tour across Asia, they shared.
