Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman is a Canadian actor, fashion model, and one of the judges on Canada's Drag Race, alongside Brooke Lynn Hytes and Stacey McKenzie. He also appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9, All Stars 3, and All Stars 5, as well as being included in the 4th episode of Season 13
Jeffrey has received heavy backlash for his critiques given on the first season of Canada's Drag Race, with fans accusing him for giving "bad" or "nonsensical" critiques to major fan favorites like Jimbo, Scarlett BoBo, Lemon and more, with viewers accusing him of having poor knowledge of drag and a lack of experience in the field. This backlash eventually caused him to delete his Instagram account, due to the high amount of highly negative comments he received from users on the platform.
Due to "schedule conflicts", Jeffrey did not return to the second season of Canada's Drag Race.
Career
Bowyer-Chapman lived in Red Deer, Alberta till his teenage years, at which point he moved to Vancouver, then began traveling as a model at age 15 throughout Europe, South America, and all across North America. He ended up in Vancouver again at age 21, which was when he began acting in television and film. He made his first movie, then moved to New York there for seven years before moving to Los Angeles in September 2016.
Alongside modeling, Bowyer-Chapman also began acting career, making his screen debut in gay-themed film Shock to the System (2006). He was named one of "Five of the Best..." in Out magazine's 2007 feature article "Canada's Coolest" and was listed in Mwinda magazine's 2009 special issue "The 10 Most Beautiful Africans In Entertainment". He has modeled in many venues including USA, Canada, South Africa, and Europe and modelled in international campaigns for American Apparel and Levi's.
He went to appear in the television series Noah's Arc and The L Word, and well as the film The Break-Up Artist (2009). From 2009 to 2011, Bowyer-Chapman had a recurring role in the Syfy series, Stargate Universe.
In 2012, he starred alongside Jussie Smollett in Patrik-Ian Polk's LGBT-themed romantic-comedy-drama film The Skinny. In 2015, he began starring alongside Constance Zimmer and Shiri Appleby in the critically acclaimed Lifetime dark comedy-drama series Unreal, playing the role of Jay, a gay reality television producer. In 2016, Bowyer-Chapman appeared in the comedy film Dirty Grandpa.
In 2018, Bowyer-Chapman joined the cast of the FX anthology series American Horror Story for its eighth season, subtitled Apocalypse.
In September 2019, he was announced as one of the three permanent judges on the first season of Canada's Drag Race, the Canadian version of RuPaul's Drag Race, alongside Brooke Lynn Hytes and Stacey McKenzie. In March 2021 Hytes and McKenzie announced that due to scheduling conflicts and other TV commitments Bowyer-Chapman would not be returning for the show's second season, which aired in late 2021.
Trivia
- Jeffrey is the second guest judge to become a permanent judge of a Drag Race spinoff (after Graham Norton) and the fourth guest to become permanent, following Ross Mathews and Todrick Hall in the American version of the show and Graham Norton on the UK Version. He is also the second judge to be on Snatch Game, a guest judge, and a permanent judge after Ross Mathews.
- In August 2020, Jeffrey deleted his Twitter account after having received a large amount of abusive tweets.
- Bowyer-Chapman hosted the episodes of The Official RuPaul's Drag Race Podcast for Canada's Drag Race Season 1 which recapped the episode and featured an interview with the episode's eliminated queen.
- Brooke Lynn Hytes and Stacey Mackenzie revealed Jeffrey would not return to judge Season 2.
- Jeffrey received heavy backlash from viewers for overly critical critiques towards several contestants in the first season of Canada's Drag Race.[1]
- However, in an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Jeffery revealed that he was fed through an earpiece a list of prewritten negative critiques for the contestants to help him serve as the "sassy man-candy" judge.[2]
- Additionally, he claims that it was RuPaul who advised him to close down his social media accounts.[2]
Gallery
Canada's Drag Race Season 1
Canada's Drag Race Season 1 Looks
External Links
References
|
| Winner | Priyanka |
|---|---|
| Runners-Up | 2nd & 3rd: Rita Baga & Scarlett BoBo |
| Other Queens | 4th: Jimbo • 5th: Lemon • 6th: Ilona Verley • 7th: BOA • 8th: Kiara • 9th: Tynomi Banks (Miss Congeniality) • 10th: Anastarzia Anaquway • 11th: Kyne • 12th: Juice Boxx |
| Judges | Brooke Lynn Hytes • Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman • Stacey McKenzie |
