Kendall Gender

Kendall Gender
Kendall Gender at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2023
Born
Kenneth Wyse

(1990-07-16) July 16, 1990 (age 34)[1][2]
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
EducationKwantlen Polytechnic University
OccupationDrag queen
TelevisionCanada's Drag Race (season 2)
Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World
Websitekendallgender.com

Kendall Gender is the stage name of Kenneth Wyse (born 16 July 1990), a Canadian drag performer most known for competing on season 2 of Canada's Drag Race in 2021. She returned to compete in Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World in 2022.[3]

Early life

Wyse was raised in Richmond, British Columbia.[4] He graduated from Henry James Cambie Secondary School in 2008 before attending Kwantlen Polytechnic University.[citation needed]

Career

Wyse chose the drag name Kendall Gender as a reference to reality television personality Kendall Jenner,[5] although for the Snatch Game episode of Canada's Drag Race, she chose to impersonate Kris Jenner.[6]

Her first time in drag was in 2014, where she performed Beyonce's "Ring the Alarm".[7]

Kendall Gender won the Vancouver's Next Drag Superstar competition in 2017.[4] In 2020, she became the first drag performer to perform the halftime show at the Rugby Sevens tournament.[8] She also recreated four albums by Black artists: Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love, Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas, Rihanna's Unapologetic, and Whitney Houston's Whitney.[4] She was a finalist on season 2 of Canada's Drag Race.[9] She won the show's roast challenge.[10]

Following her run on Canada's Drag Race, she was named to Vancouver Magazine's annual Power 50 list of influential Vancouverites.[8] She has appeared in a campaign for Canadian swim and loungewear brand Londre and is the face of Annabelle cosmetics' Proud Out Loud collection.[7]

Personal life

Wyse is biracial (half black and half white).[4] He is based in Vancouver,[11] where he has regularly performed as part of the "Brat Pack" drag troupe alongside his Canada's Drag Race castmates Synthia Kiss and Gia Metric.[12]

Filmography

Year Title Genre Role Notes
2021 Canada's Drag Race TV Contestant Season 2, 10 episodes (Runner-up)
2022 Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World TV Contestant 1 episode (9th Place)
2023 Stay Short Film Ivy Diamonds / Kaleb Premiere in the 18th Vancouver International Women in Film Festival[13][14]
2024 Alert: Missing Persons Unit TV Canary / Drag Queen Season 2, Episode 4 & 10

Web series

Year Title Role Notes Ref
2021 Meet the Queens: Canada's Drag Race Season 2 Herself Stand-alone special [15]
2021 eTalk Herself Guest [16]
2022 It Gets Better Canada Herself Guest with Patch Donaghy [17]
2022 Meet the Queens: Canada's Drag Race vs The World Herself Stand-alone special [18]

References

  1. ^ @kendallgenderxo (July 16, 2021). "go shawty , it's my birthday 🥳" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ @kendallgender (July 16, 2023). "I don't know about you , but I'm feeling 33 🥳🦀🎂" – via Instagram.
  3. ^ Nolfi, Joey (October 17, 2022). "See the 'Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World' cast of international all-stars". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  4. ^ a b c d Moliere, Ashley (December 12, 2021). "This biracial drag queen is paying homage to famous Black artists by recreating their album covers". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Conor Clark, "Here's your first look at Canada's Drag Race's season two Snatch Game". Gay Times, November 4, 2021.
  6. ^ Rebecca Alter, "Canada's Drag Race Recap: Snatch and Release". Vulture, November 5, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Lalancette, Katherine (June 24, 2022). ""Drag Saved Me in So Many Ways," Says Kendall Gender". The Kit. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Vanmag's 2022 Power 50 List". Vancouver Magazine, January 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Alter, Rebecca (December 18, 2021). "Canada's Drag Race Season-Finale Recap: Give Them All Swords". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  10. ^ Sim, Bernardo (November 26, 2021). "Canada's Drag Race Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: Kendall Roasts Back". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  11. ^ Coulter, Christine (August 3, 2018). "From Kenneth to Kendall: The transformation of a drag queen". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  12. ^ Kevin Ritchie, "Canada's Drag Race: Synthia Kiss on the best and worst drag trends". Now, November 20, 2021.
  13. ^ Stay | Vancouver International Women in Film Festival. viwff.eventive.org. February 20, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  14. ^ Stay - FilmFreeway. filmfreeway.com. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  15. ^ MEET THE QUEENS: Kendall Gender. Youtube.com. September 14, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  16. ^ Meet Kendall Gender | Canada's Drag Race Season 2. Youtube.com. October 29, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  17. ^ Kendall Gender and Patch Donaghy: a celebration of love. Youtube.com. June 23, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  18. ^ Meet The Queens | Kendall Gender - Canada's Drag Race Vs The World. Youtube.com. October 17, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
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