The Shock Continues – In a Good Way! – For CANADA’S DRAG RACE Judge Stacey McKenzie, Who Excitedly Declares: ‘Whoever Gets It, Run With It!’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Anyone who glances at Stacey McKenzie’s resume can easily see that she is abundantly qualified to be a resident judge on CANADA’S DRAG RACE. So why was she genuinely shocked? Turns out there are a couple of reasons: One of them hilariously technical, and one of them deeply personal. With CANADA’S DRAG RACE set to debut July 2 on Crave, Stacey McKenzie – supermodel, TV personality, motivational speaker, and one of the most recognizable faces in the fashion industry – provides the inside scoop on why she was so surprised to be hired as a resident judge, alongside Brooke Lynn Hytes and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, and much more: Q: I know you’re busy with the job, but have you paused to ponder how cool it is to be a judge on CANADA’S DRAG RACE? STACEY MCKENZIE: “Oh my gosh, I’m STILL in shock. When I got that first phone call, it was so funny, because I thought they were calling me to be a guest judge. That’s what my agent told me, because that’s what she thought, too. So (executive producer) Mike Bickerton calls and says, ‘Stacey, we’ve been scouring all of Canada, and we thought of you.’ And I’m like, ‘Really? Get outta here! Oh, thank you!’ I’m being all humble and everything. So I say, ‘This is awesome, which episode am I going to do?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no – we want you to be a permanent judge.’ I’m like, ‘What did you just say? Is this a joke? We haven’t even met in person, and you want to give me the position?’ And he said, ‘Oh, trust me – I know who you are. We have researched the hell out of you!’ ” Q: And you say you’re still not really over it? STACEY MCKENZIE: “Some people say to me, ‘You’re amazing, why are you so shocked?’ But I think back to being that young girl who just wanted to be a model, but never knew I was going to make it to this kind of level. So every time I get opportunities … I’m a little emotional right now … I literally just say, ‘Wow.’ It always brings me back to where I came from. I can say to myself, ‘It took you some time to get here, but you’re appreciated, you’re loved, and you’re accepted.’ And if they don’t get it, who cares? Whoever gets it, run with it!” Q: Do you take to judging easily, or do you worry about hurting people’s feelings? STACEY MCKENZIE: “I’m the second one. Because I know what it feels like to be judged. My career started off as a model, and I was the model who was told that I couldn’t be a model. So I was always being critiqued in a very negative way. It really affected me a lot when I was younger, right up until my adulthood. My first experience being a judge was on CANADA’S NEXT TOP MODEL, and I kid you not, every minute I was crying. Every time I had to critique one of the girls, I was just bawling. But I’ve come to realize, I’m here to help. I’m not here to hinder who they are, I’m here to help them be better at their craft. So once I started thinking of it that way, it was better. It’s easier for me now, because I know I’m not doing it to put anybody down. And I’ve come to realize, it’s about how I deliver the message to them.” Q: You’re certainly not shy about saying what you think. STACEY MCKENZIE: “That’s true. So let’s say I wanted to tell you that I don’t like the outfit you’re wearing right now. I usually say it exactly like that: ‘I don’t like it. I think you look terrible.’ But I know now that I can’t say that to anyone and everyone. Not everybody is going to take that in a positive light, right? So I’ve learned to tell myself, ‘Okay, Stacey, deliver it to this person a little differently, be mindful of how they could feel.’ And that’s especially true the more I get to know the queens. There are some who I can be very straight-forward with, and they’ll get it. But with others, I might choose my words a bit more carefully.” Q: What’s the main attribute that impresses you? STACEY MCKENZIE: “Confidence. Because confidence is key. You can be gorgeous on the outside, handsome on the outside, but without the confidence, all the other stuff doesn’t mean anything. If you have that strong sense of self, it shines within and without.” Click here for an interview with Brooke Lynn Hytes, and here for an interview with Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman! billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv