Canada’s Drag Race’s Jaylene Tyme on Sobriety, Community, and Embracing Your Truth

Jaylene Tyme is a celebrated drag performer with over 30 years of experience, known for her transformative celebrity impersonations and advocacy for the queer and Indigenous communities. Originally from Treaty 4 Territory in Saskatchewan, she has become a cornerstone of Vancouver’s drag scene and an international leader as Empress 35 of Vancouver and Chairperson of the International Court Council.

The Extra Mile spoke with Jayleneon her journey as a “Surthriver” and 60s Scoop survivor, reflecting on her 26 years of sobriety and her mission to inspire resilience and uplift marginalized voices. Through her appearances on Canada’s Drag Race Season 5 and her ongoing advocacy, Jaylene continues to prove that drag is not just an art form but rather it’s a powerful force for connection, healing, and change.

TEM (The Extra Mile) : You’ve been a drag performer for over 30 years and how do you feel the drag scene has evolved since you first started?

Jaylene Tyme: Yeah, well, thank you. And I know they’re going to miss me. And I am the mother of season five. So let’s make that clear.  Well, it’s exciting that it has really grown to be a real, like, worldwide global like an amazing celebration of artistry and humanity really because when I started it was it was that it was like it was really important in the communities. It’s a great example for me of extended family because when I was young I didn’t know kind of where to go I went to a queer space for the first time and went in there and saw the drag queens on the stage and and watched them and I was like terrified of them but it was like it was something that I pretty quickly got welcomed into that and to see sort of that you just built everything people would help you kind of get started and then you were responsible for creating your looks and you didn’t have the same access back then that you do now so there wasn’t like you can get your outfits on Amazon and have them that week like you had to go to like the different stores thrift stores create your looks and you know different sizes as well that you had to kind of customize it and there wasn’t lace front waves back in the time really so you had to you know everything was a little bit more it wasn’t as much to work with so you had to be very creative now that being said now to be able to see the collaborations of artists now that drag represents like there’s hair artists there’s designers there’s all these people are able to really flourish in community and keep this art form continuing to expand what it looks like when you see drag race now and you see our runways it even since season one of RuPaul’s drag race it is a different story now like they are like so magnificent and so I think that as it has one thing that has remained is that drag is really about community and the drag queens are always there to raise funds and awareness for their community and I’m actually part of an international organization called the Imperial Court and it was founded in 1965 and they would raise money and awareness for people and for different charities. When it wasn’t safe to be gay and it wasn’t safe to do drag, it was illegal and so I look at that the fact that we really owe our freedoms to those people that we’re doing it when it wasn’t safe and so I always incorporate that into everything I do is recognizing our history and realizing that I also am now part of this history too so when I show up I hope to really honor the message of the people that have inspired me to be the artist I am today but then now the younger generation that are here inspired me in the same way because I get to absorb their confidence and realize that it takes all of us to create this magic and it’s you know it’s it’s really fabulous i hope it makes sense.

TEM:  Can you share what that Surthriver means to you?

Jaylene: Yeah , Surthriver is that what i used to describe myself because i am a 60 scoop adoptee i’m also 26 years sober from alcohol and drugs and i i’ve experienced a lot of adversity a lot of discrimination and a lot of challenge in my life and but i’m here you know i walk this earth today and i’m able to create a space a roof over my head food on my stomach take care of a little dog sitting next to me. And, you know, I’ve been able to be on this healing journey. And I just, I’m living because I had the ability to be able to show up for myself and to be able to reach out to the resources that are in community to help me, you know, start again and to realize that a lot of the things that I learned about myself weren’t accurate. I needed to take ownership of realizing that I deserve to have a life of blessings and of success and of love and all these things like everybody else. And so, but I think that the message that I want to make clear is that and Brooke Lynn Hytes says every episode, we need the magic of drag more than ever. And the magic of drag is the power to express yourself freely as who you are and to be able to share what you need to share in order for you to a lot of times we have to heal in our journeys of self discovery. And so I look at like that is always a part of my drag because people see me and they see I’m fabulous right they see that right and I am I am fabulous. But I also want to make it make it very clear that I didn’t get here overnight and I didn’t get here alone. Like a lot of people were there to help guide me when I needed that support. And so I just feel like my opportunity and my responsibility is to be of support to others as well. So I keep putting my corner in that machine for drag race and say I will not know unless I try. And then season five I get that call that says this is your time. And so I come on there with the intent to be really myself and to have pride in that. And to be able to realize that the only limit is our imagination of what we can achieve. So let’s all come together and let’s make some magic.

TEM : You mentioned you’ve been sober for 26 years, I feel like sobriety is still a topic that isn’t often, you know, discussed openly, especially in the drag world. What advice would you give then to like performers or anyone kind of struggling with addiction who may be afraid to kind of take that next step?

Jaylene:  Um, that’s a great question. And I, I just, I want to encourage those who are living a sober journey to really be visible, to really share that. If you feel like, if you feel comfortable doing that, uh, it is a private thing. It’s, you know, it is that. But if you do feel like you can, um, I think that’s what’s been really important is that in Vancouver, our community, um, we share that with pride, you know, the fact that we’re, um, and, you know, not in a way of saying that anybody’s better than anybody. It’s not that. It’s just about realizing that whoever you are. however you show up, whatever challenge you face, you should feel free to be able to say that and also have access towards services and resources to help you. Our queer community, we have to face a lot of things about ourselves and it is not easy. And so I think that’s one of reasons why I work in research today. I work with the Two Spirit program and I work to strengthen the access points, but also making sure that people realize the power inside of you is to view. And if the party isn’t fun anymore, you know, there’s this hands there that you can reach out to and they’re waiting to grab onto to help you guide you towards that support. And I think that that is what was so beautiful in this last episode is that you can see that all of us are cast as magic.

TEM:  What are you most proud of in your journey so far?

Jaylene: Oh, I just feel like I could kind of scream right now like in a good way with Glee .Because it is so exciting when you think about it like we had a viral moment that went six million views of People that learned about the 60s coop and learned up and we’re able to witness a Reconciliation Union like coming together as relatives and being able to create that space that allows somebody to be seen heard and Welcome and encouraged to really take ownership of their culture Of I’m really proud of my looks. I’m proud of the fact that you know, there are some things that you know I was really nervous to do and it wasn’t really my skill set but you know i’m proud i didn’t i said that too i said i’m proud i didn’t give up i just like i face stuff that’s what i do and i just think that the fact we’re able to go in there i showed who Jaylene Tyme was i got to show that i got to show people what what’s important to me i got to show people who i was as a core human being i got to show um the style of drag that inspires me i got to be silly you know i got to just really have fun that’s what drag is and i know people who have missed me i didn’t even realize that i was gonna look like that on tv i didn’t realize i was gonna be good tv so when i watch it back i’m like oh girl you know the race has just begun this is not the last you’ve seen of me and i just feel like there’s this little thing that as a as a drag race person when you go on there you don’t know what to expect but once you’ve experienced it you’ve kind of walked through some battles there You’ve just like for me confidence opened up when we got back and I found it was like, oh my goodness So now I kind of understand that what I need to work on what I found was challenging in the moment and Working with some dancers and you’ll see like a lot of drag race people when they come home their makeup changes Like we just figure out we continue to work and evolve and that’s the drag race franchise worldwide You see so many people there aren’t just get stronger and stronger So I feel that I got to show a lot and I just feel it just opened up and they say this a lot too the drag race starts now You know once you’ve finished it all and it gets out there Then you show up and you create these relationships and you work on your art and anything is possible.

TEM: Are you able to share a little bit about what’s next for you then?

Jaylene Tyme:  Well, what’s next for me? like we’re going to DragCon UK. So that’s in January. So going to be there. And then this is the thing too, like I work with an agency now, and I’m also, I think one of the things that I think that was really important is, you know, I share a lot of personally about my journey of being a 60s Scoop adopted by my sobriety about being in community. And I just feel like what I’m going to be doing next in the next few years is I hope to share those stories into different nations with the Indigenous communities, but also to be a real presence in speaker series that talk about making sure that everybody realizes that we’re all survivors, that we all have the opportunity to start our day over whenever we want, and to be able to choose where we go that’s not limited by a colonial stamp, you should be able to achieve anything that you can dream of. And I just feel like that is sort of really going to be my glow up. It’s just getting out there and being with the Drag Race platform, it’s bringing me and introducing me to a lot of people. And I’ve got so many messages from young indigenous people and trans people that are saying, thank you so much for being there. I tell you that just gives me all the purpose because, you know, we can slave the boots down, you know, you can do that and I do that, you know, I’d love to do that. But I think at the end of the day, if somebody sees me as an example of what they could achieve, then that is like, that’s why I felt so excited when you asked that question because I was like, there’s so many people that are going to maybe be able to unlock their confidence a lot earlier. And before I finish this question, that reminds me of sitting next to Makayla Couture. And I looked at her as 21 years old, I was 50, I was 50 at the time. And I watched her her confidence. I was like like it took my breath away and and Sanjina and Just their confidence like popping off, you know, and just being themselves and for myself when I was younger I didn’t see anyone out there like me. I was so Nervous and just a shell of who I am today and so to see Younger people Be supported to find that confidence and realize that their life is what they make it It makes everything that I have to experience all the challenge in my younger three years It makes that all worthwhile when we see our people are are being able to really feel like they can be anything that they can dream out That was really beautiful.