Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman drops out of Canada’s Drag Race season 2: ‘Things just didn’t work out’

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman in the Canada's Drag Race werk room

Canada’s Drag Race judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman will not return for season 2, it’s been confirmed.

Brooke Lynn Hytes and model Stacey McKenzie both confirmed they would be returning for the upcoming season in a four-minute video shared on the Canada’s Drag Race Instagram page, but announced: “With all good news must come some sad news.”

She explained that Bowyer-Chapman, “our third”, won’t be appearing in the new season because of prior commitments.

“He’s filming his new show,” Brooke Lynn said. ‘He’s busy, he’s booked and he’s getting paid, and unfortunately, with scheduling, things just didn’t work out for him to come back this season.”

According to IMDb, Bowyer-Chapman will have a starring role in Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. – a reboot of the ABC series Doogie Howser, M.D. starring Neil Patrick Harris. The show will chronicle the life of Lahela ‘Doogie’ Kameāloha, a teenager who is juggling her high school life with an early medical career.

Bowyer-Chapman is billed to appear in a supporting role, and the series is set to be released in 2021 on Disney Plus.

Even though Bowyer-Chapman won’t be joining the new series, McKenzie promised that season two of Canada’s Drag Race will be “major” and that she and Brooke Lynn will “cause so much trouble”.

“The first season of our show brought so much joy and glee for everybody,” McKenzie said. “It really uplifted everybody and made them feel they’re happy for at least that short moment.”

However, the first season of Canada’s Drag Race wasn’t all sequins and joy. Bowyer-Chapman had a difficult first season and ended up deleting his Twitter due to the online abuse he received.

It’s unclear if he will be replaced with another permanent judge or whether another celebrity judge will be added on rotation.

Michelle Visage, Allie X and Elisha Cuthbert all appeared as celebrity guests in season one of Canada’s Drag Race.