Kelowna’s own Ella Lamoureux is one of the contestants on the new OutTV show Call Me Mother.

“I was contacted through my social media saying there’s this new, amazing reality TV show happening in Canada, and they wanted to know if I would audition,” explained Ella.

“So I read up on it. It was very vague, so I asked for more descriptive words, and they were like, ‘you’re just going to have to sign up and see how it goes’. So I did, and thankfully I got shortlisted and then I got cast.”

Ella can’t give much away about the show, other than it’s a competition between drag artists who are mentored and coached by three renowned drag mothers. The 8 contestants will vie for the title of ‘First Child of Drag’ and a Grand Prize Package valued at approximately $50,000.

“Out of all the drag TV shows that I’ve seen, this had the most diverse cast that I’ve ever seen. We had a non-binary artist, we had drag kings, we had queer artists and two-spirit and then we had so many other cultures. It was fantastic seeing the plethora of different styles in one room,” said Ella.

After 14 years in the city, Ella is a mainstay on the local drag scene.

“Me and my good friend Sasha started up a drag scene here, I would say. There used to be one way in the past but it died off and now we’ve made a resurgence."

They’ve built a community, with regular performances and events like the drag brunches at Friends of Dorothy Lounge.

“It came from working really hard to get events going and now that drag is mainstream we don’t have to work as hard. Bars are now coming to us to do shows, which is an amazing feeling,” she adds.

Call Me Mother premieres Tuesday, October 25, at 9 p.m. PT on OUTtv.com, the OUTtv Apple TV Channel and the OUTtv Amazon Prime Channel.

Ella will be hosting a viewing party at Friends of Dorothy Lounge.