Jean-François Guevremont (born May 27, 1987), known professionally as Rita Baga, is a Canadian drag queen and television personality from Montreal, Quebec.Hugo Dumas, "La future reine québécoise du Nord?" . La Presse, August 19, 2020.
She is best known as a top three finalist in the first season of Canada's Drag Race.Rebecca Alter, "Canada’s Drag Race Season Finale Recap: What’s Her Name?" . Vulture.com, September 21, 2020.
In 2022, it was announced that Rita Baga would be the main host of Drag Race Belgique.
In 2022, she also returned to compete in the first season of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World. She placed in the top four.
In addition to performing as Rita Baga, Guevremont previously worked as the director of programming for Fierté Montréal (Montreal Pride) for many years.André-Constantin Passiour, "Une édition canadienne toute spéciale de Drag Superstars". Fugues, August 9, 2020.
Education Guevremont is an alumnus of the Université du Québec à Montréal, where he studied human resources and tourist development.Louis Angot, "8 choses à savoir sur Rita Baga, la candidate montréalaise à 'Canada's Drag Race'" . Narcity, July 6, 2020.
Career Guevremont began his drag career in 2007, performing at Cabaret Mado for the birthday show of her friend Dream (also a drag queen). That evening, she did a medley of songs from the film Sister Act, with colleagues and fellow drag queens Marla and Célinda.
Initially performing under the name Rita d'Marde (a phonetic French word play of "Laugh, asshole!"), she changed it to Rita Baga in 2010 when she became a regular at the famous Montreal's drag establishment Cabaret Mado.
In 2013, Rita Baga appeared on La Guerre des clans, V's French-language version of Family Feud.
In 2014, Rita Baga became the permanent host of Bagalicious, the Sunday night program at Cabaret Mado.André-Constantin Passiour, "Rita Baga rend hommage à Adele" . Fugues, September 19, 2016. In 2016 she launched MX Fierté, a cross-Canada drag pageant held in conjunction with Fierté Montréal;André-Constantin Passiour, "C’est reparti pour une 2e édition du concours MX Fierté" . Fugues, February 1, 2018. in the same year, she travelled to Mumbai, India to perform at the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival."‘We must all be treated equally; that is the future’" . The Hindu, May 27, 2016.
In 2017, Guevremont participated in Ils de jour, elles de nuit, an Ici ARTV documentary series about drag queens, alongside Barbada de Barbades, Gaby, Lady Boom Boom, Lady Pounana and Tracy Trash.Emmanuelle Plante, "L’envers du décor de la culture drag" . Le Journal de Montréal, April 1, 2017.
The inaugural season of Canada's Drag Race filmed in late 2019, and the cast was revealed to the public in 2020 several weeks before the show's premiere on July 2. Rita Baga was one of two queens from Montreal, alongside Kiara, to appear in the season.Samuel Larochelle, "Les drag queens montent au front" . La Presse, June 28, 2020. In August 2020, with Fierté Montréal suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Guevremont in his role as director of programming helped to coordinate a special online edition of the annual Drag Superstars show, which featured all of the queens from Canada's Drag Race in prerecorded video performances. While most other queens performed lipsyncs to established pop songs, Guevremont used his segment to premiere the music video for Rita Baga's own original single "Something Spiritual". Rita Baga made it to the top 3 in Canada's Drag Race, with Scarlett BoBo and Priyanka, and won the most weekly challenges over the course of the season, but ultimately lost the crown to Priyanka. She placed high, but did not win, in the Snatch Game challenge for her performance as Édith Piaf.
Following the conclusion of the Canada's Drag Race season, the cast announced a cross-Canada tour, to be performed at drive-in venues due to the ongoing social distancing restrictions remaining in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.Peter Knegt, "All hail our queen: A conversation with Canada's Drag Race winner Priyanka" . CBC Arts, September 10, 2020. The tour was hosted by Brooke Lynn Hytes.Tyler Jadah, "Canada's Drag Race is coming to Montreal's drive-in venue this month" . Daily Hive, September 10, 2020. Alongside Priyanka, Scarlett BoBo and Jimbo, Rita Baga participated in an online panel as part of the 2020 Just for Laughs festival.Jenelle Riley, "For Montreal’s Just for Laughs, the Show Will Go On(line)" . Variety, October 2, 2020.
In December 2020, it was announced that Rita Baga would be part of the cast of the first season of the Quebec version of Big Brother Célébrités.Élizabeth Lepage-Boily, "La drag queen Rita Baga se joint à l'aventure Big Brothers Célébrités" . Showbizz.net, December 11, 2020. She was evicted on day 29 in twelfth place. In April 2021, it was announced that Rita Baga would be one of the regular panelists, alongside Roxane Bruneau, on Qui sait chanter?, the Quebec adaptation of I Can See Your Voice.Yannick Leclerc, "Rita Baga et Roxanne Bruneau seront les panélistes régulières de «Qui sait chanter?»" . Fugues, April 27, 2021. In July, Rita Baga and Jean-Thomas Jobin, who had been one of her housemates on Big Brother Célebrités, cohosted a Carte blanche gala at the 2021 Just for Laughs festival.Marissa Groguhé, "Rita Baga et Jean-Thomas Jobin, un duo insolite qui promet" . La Presse, July 23, 2021.
In September, she had a guest role appearing as herself in a fifth-season episode of Madame Lebrun, the Quebec adaptation of Mrs. Brown's Boys.Stéphanie Nolin, "Rita Baga transforme la famille Lebrun dans la première de saison de Madame Lebrun" . Showbizz.net, September 28, 2021. In October 2021, Rita Baga launched Créature, a theatre tour blending lipsynching, live singing and comedy segments.Bruno Lapointe, "Rita Baga: divine Créature" . Le Journal de Montréal, October 21, 2021. The tour received a Félix Award nomination for Best Variety or Reinterpretation Concert at the 44th Félix Awards in 2022.Louis-Philippe Labrèche, "Les résultats du Premier Gala de l’ADISQ 2022" . Le Canal Auditif, November 2, 2022. In November, she was announced as the host of La Drag en moi, a makeover series based on Dragnificent! in which drag queens help ordinary people to look their best for an important event;Marie-Lise Rousseau, "Rita Baga animera «La drag en moi» l’hiver prochain" . Métro, November 15, 2021. the series premiered on Crave in August 2022.Frédérique De Simone, "«La drag en moi»: drag à la rescousse" . Le Journal de Montréal, August 6, 2022.
In July 2022, she was announced as the host for the upcoming Drag Race Belgique, Belgium's Drag Race spin-off. On September 18, 2022, Rita Baga, Barbada de Barbades and Mona de Grenoble presented an award at the Prix Gémeaux ceremony, reading the nominees before bringing out Gisèle Lullaby, the third season winner of Canada's Drag Race, to announce the winner.Caroline Bertrand, "Les drags brillent sur la scène des Gémeaux" . Métro, September 18, 2022. She competed in the first season of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World in 2022, portraying Montreal drag icon Guilda in the Snatch Game episode.Kevin O'Keeffe, "‘Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World’ Episode 2 recap: Snatched at the Summit" . Xtra!, November 26, 2022. Rita Baga won two of the main weekly challenges during the season and made it to the finale episode of the competition, placing in the top four.
In 2023, Rita Baga was a contestant in the third season of Chanteurs masqués as Le Lion. She reached the finale, but ultimately lost to Le Caméléon (the chameleon) portrayed by Michel Courtemanche.
In 2025 she was announced as having a supporting role in the upcoming television series adaptation of Bon Cop, Bad Cop.Marc-André Beaulieu, "«Bon Cop, Bad Cop»: Colm Feore se désiste, découvrez l'acteur qui le remplacera". 7 Jours, July 2, 2025.
Personal life
On November 6, 2022, Rita Baga issued an apology throughout social media due to a past performance in which she wore blackface to portray Amber Riley from Glee.
Filmography Television YearTitleRoleNotes2013La Guerre des clansHerself2017Ils de jour, elles de nuitHerselfDocumentary series2018Breakfast Television Montreal HerselfGuest2020Canada's Drag Race ContestantRunner-up (Season 1)2020-2023La semaine des 4 JulieHerselfCelebrity Guest, 10 episodes2021-2023Sucré saléHerselfCelebrity Guest, 3 episodes2021-2022Le TéléjournalHerselfGuest2021Sans rancuneHerselfOne episodeAudrée Laurin, "Rita Baga sera à Sans Rancune et à En direct de l'univers!" . HollywoodPQ, February 12, 2021. 2021Big Brother CélébritésContestantEliminated; 12th place2021-2022Qui sait chanter?HerselfMain panelist 2021Madame LebrunHerselfOne episode2022La Drag en moiHostCrave original series2022Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the WorldContestant3rd/4th Place (Season 1)2023Drag Race BelgiqueMain host 2023 Chanteurs masqués Contestant 3rd Place (season 3) 2026 Bon Cop, Bad Cop Rita Baga
Web series Year Title Role Notes 2020Meet The QueensHerselfStand-alone specialCanada's Drag Race Season 12020After the SashayHerselfGuest 2020ET Canada PrideHerselfGuest with Priyanka & Scarlett BoBo2020Le Podcast de Thomas LevacHerselfGuest; Podcast2020La vie est belleHerselfGuest 2020Moore, PleaseHerselfGuest with Scarlett BoBo2020PopBuzz MeetsHerselfGuest 2021Sous ÉcouteHerselfGuest; Episode: "#311 – Rita Baga et Charles Beauchesne"2021Pivot avec PineaultHerselfGuest2021En Coulisses x ELLE QuébecHerselfGuest 2021Jay Du Temple discuteHerselfGuest; Podcast 2021Le Mouvement Québec Français PrésenteHerselfGuest 2022Tout le monde s'haïtHerselfGuest 2022Encré dans la peauHerselfGuest 2022Meet The QueensHerselfStand-alone specialCanada's Drag Race: Canada vs The World2022Courrier recommandéHerselfGuest; By URBANIA
Discography Albums Title Year"Flash" 2025
Singles As main artist Title Year Album "Fashionista" 2016 rowspan="4" "Something Spiritual 2020 "C'est toi" 2024 "Sunglasses at Night"
As featured artist Title Year Album "Not Sorry Aboot It" (with The Cast of Canada's Drag Race, Season 1)2020 rowspan="3" "U Wear It Well" – Queens of the North Ru-Mix (RuPaul featuring the Cast of Canada's Drag Race, Season 1) "Bonjour, Hi!" (Touché Version) (The cast of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs The World) 2022
Awards and nominations Year Award-giving body Category Work Results Ref.2022 23th Gala Les Olivier Olivier de l’année Herself 2022 2022 Premier Gala de l’ADISQ Spectacle de L’année – Variétés/Réinteprétations Creature
References
External links