Even though she won the Knix underwear photoshoot mini challenge, Sanjina DaBish Queen’s sewing skills couldn’t stack up against the competition in this week’s episode of Canada’s Drag Race Season 5 (Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Crave). Having to lip sync for her life against Uma Gahd, Sanjina was ultimately eliminated from the competition.
“I didn’t want to relive that moment again, because … it just took a while for me to kind of get over the fact that I went home, I was one of the first Toronto girls,” Sanjina told Yahoo Canada. “I went home in such a way that was just not sitting well with me.
“It was not my time to go home. It really, really wasn’t. And if my outfit stayed on, I’m pretty sure I would have stayed, because Uma did not send me home. … The season’s going get boring without me, you’ll see, my energy is going to be missed.”
As we saw at the end of the episode, the design challenge winner, Minhi Wang, was given the opportunity to use the Beaver to save one of the competitors up for elimination. When Minhi asked everyone to share who they would use the Beaver on, with many voting to save Sanjina, Minhi protected Makayla Couture instead.
“I really thought I was going to [get the Beaver],” Sanjina shared. “I really thought I was going be safe, even based off of votes, because Minhi, why would you ask for votes then?
“Minhi also was on that stage. My critiques were not bad. [Brooke Lynn Hytes] just said I need fine tuning. They went in on Makayla. They liked my first outfit. So I was like, why would you not save that girl? To me, it felt like Minhi saved Makayla because she was scared. Because when Minhi ends up in the bottom, and Makayla has that power, Minhi would go home.”
Sanjina also knew, as we saw in her face when judge Brad Goreski announced that it was a design challenge, that she had some work to do.
“I am very artistic in movement and stuff like that, … when it comes to designing, I just don’t,” she said. “I’ve learned it. I’ve tried to learn it.
“Before coming, I did kind of learn the basics and when I got there it went ‘poof.’ We just came from a lip sync thing and then I walked in winning the Knix photoshoot. I’m like, ‘You know what? I won the mini challenge. I’m so excited for mani.’ … When he said design, … that’s when the pressure was on, because I’m just not a seamstress.”
But one thing this episode also allowed the competitors to share is exactly how expensive it can be for drag artists to put together and pay for their looks. Sanjina shared that for her, Drag Race cost around $25,000, and most of the things she brought to wear came from sponsorships.
“I don’t come from money. I never have. … I came from hand-me-downs,” she shared. “I had to fight for clothes. I had to wear the same thing every single day sometimes.
“It’s the truth, to look expensive you need to have [money], right? And I am a fast fashion girl, and that’s why [The Virgo Queen] said, ‘This is right up your alley,’ because I am that girl that will shop at Shein and Fashion Nova. … You can’t say no to an opportunity like that, you really have to go and find a way to figure your shit out.”
While Sanjina admitted that she could have had more time to “cook” before joining Drag Race, she wanted to have access to a platform that would give her voice power. That includes this week’s episode where Sanjina opened up about body dysmorphia and having a “nonexistent” relationship with her mom, with the drag artist up about her mother not wanting to be part of her journey.
“I wanted power in my hand, … because being a local [Toronto] girl, in general, and being a trans POC in the Village, it’s hard,” she said. “Do you know how many times my love I have to bite the bullet because I can’t say stuff about my skin colour? … It’s hard.
“I wanted that power just to be able to start inspiring people, to be able to tell my story, to be able to just shine light on the trans community. … I was born to be trans and I was born to inspire the world, and being trans and having the blessings to take part in drag, it’s more than a gift. It’s more than a blessing. … Growing up I never had role models and I feel like I want to be a role model to kids who can now have that.”
For anyone looking to see more of Sanjina, she’s planning tours, including a one-woman show she wants to do called “Becoming Sanjina,” based on her life story, performed in the Bollywood musical style. She’s also not opposed to coming back to the Drag Race world for an All Stars season. When asked if there’s a Drag Race star she’d particularly love to do an All Stars season with, Sanjina mentioned Vanessa Vanjie Mateo or Kandy Muse.
“Not because I want to go up against them,” she said. “It’s because I just know that if I was paired with those two, it would be great TV.”
