Scarlett BoBo is the stage name of Matthew Cameron (born December 1, 1989), a Canadian television personality and drag queen most noted as a finalist in the first season of the reality competition series Canada's Drag Race in 2020.[1]
Scarlett BoBo | |
|---|---|
 Scarlett BoBo at the 2021 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | Matthew Cameron December 1, 1989 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | Humber College (BA) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2008-present |
Career
edit
Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Scarlett BoBo began performing as a drag queen in the spring of 2008. Her drag mother is Tenora BoBo, with their surname coming from house mother Ginette BoBo.[2] She moved to Toronto in 2009.[3] She studied public relations at Humber College, and has also taken classes at circus school, incorporating skills like fire eating and aerial silks into her drag performances.[4] Treating her drag as a form of activism,[5] she has performed at a benefit for the Orlando nightclub shooting,[6] as a host of the city's annual AIDS Walk for HIV/AIDS,[7] and as the creator of the all-gender-inclusive Absolut Empire's Ball.[3] She has also been an active supporter of Rainbow Railroad, regularly directing a share of the proceeds from her endeavours to the organization.[3]
In May 2020, Scarlett Bobo was announced as a contestant in the first season of the reality competition series Canada's Drag Race.[8] She was consistently safe or high throughout the season, and won the key ball challenge,[9] ultimately placing as a runner-up in the finale alongside Rita Baga and behind winner Priyanka.[10] She was only the second queen in the entire history of the Drag Race franchise, following Bianca Del Rio, to make it to the finale without ever having placed low in any challenge during the season.[11] Following the conclusion of the season, she headlined a cross-Canada tour with the other Canada's Drag Race contestants, which was performed at drive-in venues due to the ongoing social distancing restrictions remaining in place during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[12] In October, she participated alongside Priyanka, Rita Baga and Jimbo in an online panel discussion as part of the Just for Laughs festival.[13]
For Fierté Montréal's special online edition of its annual Drag Superstars show, which featured all of the Canada's Drag Race queens in prerecorded video performances, Scarlett Bobo performed to Pink's single "Just Like Fire".[citation needed]
Underneath the Empire, a documentary film about Scarlett BoBo and the Absolut Empire's Ball, was screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in 2019 before having its television premiere on OutTV in April 2021.[14]
Music
editIn 2014, she released the single "Still Fucking Going", a collaboration with her Toronto drag colleague Allysin Chaynes.[15] She followed up with the album #BoBosexuality: The ReRelease in 2015 which included Werrrk.com's Drag Song of The Year for 2015, Break My Heart,[16] and later with the singles "Drop the Money" and "Qu'est-ce Que Fuck".[16]
In October 2020, she released the new single "C.E.O."[16]
In 2022, she joined the music label So Fierce Music.[17]
Personal life
editMatthew Cameron became engaged to Pete Maragos, a former political assistant to Ontario MPP Han Dong, in 2018.[18]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Canada's Drag Race (season 1) | Herself | Runner-Up |
| Life in a Year | Drag Queen | ||
| 2022 | Bring Back My Girls | Herself |
Discography
editStudio albums
edit| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| #BoBosexuality: The ReRelease |
|
Singles
edit| Song | Year | Album | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Drop the Money" | 2020 | non-album aingle | [16] |
| "Qu'est-Ce Que Fuck" | |||
| "Not Sorry Aboot It" (with The Cast of Canada's Drag Race, Season 1) |
[19] | ||
| "U Wear It Well" – Queens of the North Ru-Mix (RuPaul featuring the Cast of Canada's Drag Race, Season 1) |
[20] | ||
| "C.E.O" | [16] |
References
edit- ^ Arvin Joaquin, "After the sashay: Scarlett Bobo serves consistently fierce realness" Archived 2021-02-24 at the Wayback Machine. Xtra!, September 8, 2020.
- ^ Raymond Helkio, "Community voyeur" Archived 2020-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. The Buzz, October 2017.
- ^ a b c Brooke Porter, "Absolut wants you to meet the Canadians changing our communities" Archived 2021-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. Now, December 23, 2019.
- ^ Bernardo Sim, "Canada's Drag Race: Things You Didn’t Know About The Queens" Archived 2022-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. Screen Rant, July 17, 2020.
- ^ Sarah Dziedzic, "The working life of a drag queen, after Orlando" Archived 2022-01-29 at the Wayback Machine. TVOntario, July 4, 2016.
- ^ Aeryn Pfaff, "How one Toronto party is helping victims of the Orlando shooting". Xtra!, June 17, 2016.
- ^ "Scotiabank AIDS Walk Toronto: Understanding Ties Us Together". Canada NewsWire, September 5, 2017.
- ^ Joey Nolfi, "‘Canada's Drag Race cast sash-ehs north: Meet the queens'" Archived 2021-10-29 at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly, May 14, 2020.
- ^ Suzanne Lapointe, "'Canada's Drag Race' queens turn out fierce, frosty fashion for Snow Ball" Archived 2021-06-16 at the Wayback Machine. eTalk, August 27, 2020.
- ^ Kevin O'Keeffe, "‘Canada’s Drag Race’ Episode 10 recap: The Queen of the North is here". Xtra!, September 4, 2020.
- ^ Kevin O'Keeffe, "‘Canada’s Drag Race’ Episode 9 Power Ranking: Three of a kind" Archived 2021-01-19 at the Wayback Machine. Xtra!, August 28, 2020.
- ^ Peter Knegt, "All hail our queen: A conversation with Canada's Drag Race winner Priyanka" Archived 2021-06-16 at the Wayback Machine. CBC Arts, September 10, 2020.
- ^ Jenelle Riley, "For Montreal’s Just for Laughs, the Show Will Go On(line)" Archived 2020-10-13 at the Wayback Machine. Variety, October 2, 2020.
- ^ "Scarlett Bobo and Absolut Vodka launches ground-breaking documentary 'Underneath the Empire'" Archived 2021-04-20 at the Wayback Machine. Mojo Toronto, April 13, 2021.
- ^ Johnnie Walker, "Scarlett Bobo’s party city". Xtra!, October 15, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Jonathan Currinn, "Canada’s Drag Race Runner-Up Scarlett BoBo Has Dropped Her First Single Since The Show Titled 'C.E.O.'" Archived 2020-11-24 at the Wayback Machine. CelebMix, October 28, 2020.
- ^ "So Fierce Music announces ten new artist signings for 2021". www.radioandmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2022-11-03. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ^ Bobby Box, "Matty And Pete: A Drag Queen Meets His King". Lift & Co., February 13, 2019.
- ^ Rebecca Alter, "Canada’s Drag Race Recap: Valley of the Dwolls" Archived 2021-02-25 at the Wayback Machine. Vulture, August 3, 2020.
- ^ Amanda Mitchell, "Every Drag Race RuMix, Ranked" Archived 2021-03-06 at the Wayback Machine. Vulture, February 25, 2021.