Kimmy Couture

Kimmy Couture is the stage name of Louent Essar Lampong (born September 30, 1996), a Filipino-Canadian[2] drag queen known for being the first transgender contestant on Canada's Drag Race when she competed on season 3 of the series.[3][4]

Kimmy Couture
Born
Louent Essar Lampong

(1996-09-30) September 30, 1996[1]
Southern Leyte, Philippines
Other namesKimmy Dymond
OccupationDrag queen

Career

Kimmy was first introduced to drag by friends in 2011 who got her a gig, following which club managers "loved all her performances" and continued to book her.[2] During this time she also performed under the name Kimmy Dymond. In 2018 she was crowned Ms Capital Pride, becoming the first transgender woman to win the title.[2][5][6] She also appeared on CTV News in 2019,[7] as well as being part of the first Winter Pride in February 2019 as part of Winterlude.[8][9]

In 2021 she was prominently featured in the documentary (613) Queens by Rowan O'Brien, along with drag daughter Jasmine Dymond, which showcased the local Ottawa drag scene.[10][11]

In 2022 she was announced as one of the twelve queens competing on the third season of Canada's Drag Race.[3] In episode 2 she won the maxi challenge for her performance in the Who-Knows Awards, a parody of the Juno Awards.[12] In the Snatch Game she portrays American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande, a performance which lands her in the bottom. She wins the lipsync against Lady Boom Boom to "Run Away with Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen.[13] She falls into the bottom again in episode 8, beating Vivian Vanderpuss in a lipsync to Rêve's "CTRL + ALT + DEL".[14] She makes it to the finale but is eliminated by the judges before the final lipsync, placing in joint 3rd with Miss Fiercalicious.[15]

She was chosen as the headliner for the 2022 Capital Pride,[4] and appeared in Winter Pride 2023 co-headlining the drag show with Jada Shada Hudson, Miss Fiercalicious, and local Ottawa drag performers.[16] She also attended the 2023 edition of RuPaul's DragCon UK.

In June 2023 she received a Plaque of Awards from the Southern Leyte Pride Federation and the Province of Southern Leyte as part of the province's 63rd anniversary. The award was in recognition of “Outstanding Contributions and Achievements in the Field of Arts and Entertainment” and for “Exemplary Leadership, Dedication, and Excellence in Advocating and Empowering the LGBT Community”.[17]

Personal life

Couture was originally born in Southern Leyte, Philippines and immigrated to Canada around 2011. She is a transgender woman and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns in and out of drag.[2][3] She currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario.[5]

Her drag mother is Icesis Couture, winner of season 2 of Canada's Drag Race.[18]

Following her time on Drag Race she discussed how masculinity-centered challenges during the season triggered feelings of gender dysphoria.[4] She also discussed how members of marginalized communities, such as being trans and a person of colour, can come with the expectation to educate people outside of those communities on issues, stating that it felt like her life was just about "answering the same questions" over and over again.[4]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2021 (613) Queens Herself Documentary short[10][11]

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2019 CTV News Herself
2022 Canada's Drag Race Contestant; 3rd place
CTV Your Morning [19]

Web series
Year Title Role Publisher Ref.
2019 The Ottawa Drag Scene: Kimmy Dymond Herself Ashley Stefureak [20]
2022 Meet the Queen's of Canada's Drag Race Season 3 Crave [21]
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio [22]
Canada's Drag Race Season 3: After the Sashay Xtra Magazine [23]

Podcasts
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2022 The Chop Bloque Herself Guest; 2 episodes [24][25]

Discography

Singles
Title Year Album
"Squirrels Trip: The Rusical"
(The Cast of Canada's Drag Race, Season 3)[26]		 2022 Non-album singles
"True North Strong and Fierce"
(The Cast of Canada's Drag Race, Season 3)[27]

References
  1. @itskimmycouture (October 1, 2021). "Roses and Red Violets are Blue I'm that Bitch and Will always be that Bitch Not like YOU 🌹" – via Instagram.
  2. Stanley, Rachel (30 August 2018). "Capital Pride Pageant dazzles, makes history". The Charlatan. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  3. Nolfi, Joey (15 June 2022). "Canada's Drag Race season 3 cast sash-ehs this way: Meet the queens!". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. Martin, Russ; Taher, Sarah (9 September 2022). "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 3: 'After the Sashay' with Kimmy Couture". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. "One Day in Ottawa: Canada's Drag Race queen Kimmy Couture". Eat North. 13 September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  6. Hemens, Aaron (28 August 2018). "Ottawa's biggest and most colourful Capital Pride Parade to date". Ottawa Life Magazine. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  7. "Me Being A Big Mood on Live TV News 😬😬". Instagram. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  8. "1st winter Pride march takes centre stage at Winterlude". CBC News. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  9. "Capital Pride Launches First-Ever WinterPride". Capital Pride – Media Releases. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  10. "Film Screening: Long Time Comin'". Rainbow Reels.
  11. O'Brien, Rowan (2021). "(613) Queens". Rowan O'Brien. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  12. O'Keeffe, Kevin (22 July 2022). "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 3, Episode 2 recap: And the award goes to …". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  13. O'Keeffe, Kevin (12 August 2022). "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 3, Episode 5 recap: Snatched again". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  14. O'Keeffe, Kevin (3 September 2022). "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 3, Episode 8 recap: Ball is life". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  15. O'Keeffe, Kevin (9 September 2022). "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 3 finale recap: Our new Queen of the North is …". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  16. "Winter Pride Drag Show with The Hot Glue Gun Girls". Capital Pride. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  17. Couture, Kimmy. (1 July 2023). "My province back home gave me an award." Instagram story. Screenshot uploaded to img.bb on 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  18. Nolfi, Joey (9 December 2022). "Queen quits Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World in emotional shocker: 'I just can't keep up'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  19. Who will win Canada's Drag Race? | Your Morning, archived from the original on 2023-05-28, retrieved 2023-05-29
  20. Stefureak, Ashley (25 March 2019). "The Ottawa Drag Scene: Kimmy Dymond". YouTube.
  21. Meet Kimmy Couture | Canada's Drag Race (Crave Original), archived from the original on 2022-06-15, retrieved 2023-05-29
  22. Canada's Drag Race's Kimmy Couture & Gisèle Lullaby on Snatch Game, advice from Icesis & MORE!, archived from the original on 2023-03-31, retrieved 2023-05-29
  23. 'Canada's Drag Race' Season 3: 'After the Sashay' with Kimmy Couture | Xtra, archived from the original on 2023-05-12, retrieved 2023-05-29
  24. Canada's Drag Race S3E4 Reaction w/ Fiercalicious, Silky Ganache, Kimmy Couture, Irma Gerd and more!, archived from the original on 2022-08-11, retrieved 2023-05-29
  25. Canada's Drag Race Reaction with Kimmy Couture, archived from the original on 2022-09-20, retrieved 2023-05-29
  26. "Squirrels Trip: The Rusical – Single". Apple Music. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  27. "True North Strong and Fierce – Single". Apple Music. 9 September 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
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