How A 'Canada's Drag Race' Pit Crew Member Reconnected With His Birth Mom Through The Show

Canada's Drag Race pit crew member Seth Falk found more than fame during his debut season on the show.

In 2020, before Canada's Drag Raceseason one aired, Falk was going through a "dark" time. But with the help of the show, he managed to connect with his birth mom, whom he now considers his best friend.

"It sounds crazy but I'm going to relate this to birds. I felt like a peacock my whole life with no tail feathers," Falk told Narcity.

"I have so much in me — queerness, ideas, energy — and I've been scared. And now that I met my birth mom, I feel like my tail has fanned out and I can just be myself."

Falk is a jack of all trades, and along with being on Canada's Drag Race, the 36-year-old is a model and animal wrangler.

After filming the first season as a pit crew member (a helper who aids in setting up mini-challenges for the drag queens as well as in adding comedic relief and general glamour to the show), Falk was dealing with financial stress from his business as an animal wrangler along with feeling like his identity wasn't embraced or "rejoiced" by those close to him.

"I was really struggling with my animal business because I visit nursing homes, so I wasn't able to do any business. I was using up all my savings to pay for taking care of 100 exotic animals, and a lot of sad emotions were coming to me."

"Probably one of the darkest or hardest times of my life was after filming, right before we aired," he said. "I come from a very conservative, religious family. I love them to death, but I'm unable to share or rejoice or enjoy a large part of my life, and in that hard time, that was also really hard that I wasn't able to feel or communicate that with them."

Finding his birth mom

During that hard time, Falk went on a DNA website to learn more about his background and found an "exact match" for his birth mother.

"When I found my birth mom on this website, the trailer for Drag Race had just come out. I didn't know anything about her, so I just sent her the trailer for the show. I'm like, 'She could be religious, she could be conservative like my adoptive parents,' and I just sent it to her."

Falk's mom responded to the message saying that Drag Race is her "favourite show in the entire world," along with a picture of her holding RuPaul's book.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh! Not only does this person that I'm related to accept me already, I can tell, but loves drag and Drag Race.' So I went through this journey with my birth mom watching the episodes and laughing and crying, and it was just so magical."

Falk says his birth mom, who he started calling his sister but later switched to mom because "she's so gorgeous and young-looking that everyone thought it was my sister," is his best friend.

"We go to drag shows together. We got to hang out with Brooke Lynn Hytes from the show together and meet all of these wonderful queens. And I'm sharing these experiences that are so exciting for me and have been life changing for her, and we've been doing that together."

How Drag Race changed his life

Falk says the most amazing opportunityCanada's Drag Race has given him has been the chance to connect with his mom over something they both love.

"My mom was the biggest thing the show has given me, and also giving us an opportunity to share something so beautiful and fun."

Falk, who identifies as queer and Black, says he faced bullying and racism throughout his youth.

"I was the only Black person in my entire community. I had KKK written on all of my books."

"To have this moment where all of those things that people teased me for are celebrated is just crazy. I think that just because I don't do drag I'm not as talented as those amazing artists, but the show still found the space to give a queer POC like me that special opportunity to live out my dreams on a show that I'm a super fan of and make all these new friends and opportunities and just live."

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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