Jaida Essence Hall surprised with socially-distant parade from fans after winning Drag Race

1 June 2020, 15:02

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 cast take on the Bosom Buddies challenge

By Sophie Thompson

RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 winner Jaida Essence Hall got a drive-by parade from people in her hometown to celebrate at a social distance.

She's a winner, baby! The face of beauty, Jaida Essence Hall has finally taken her rightful crown as winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 12, and we couldn't be happier for her.

The 33-year-old won the reality show and a $100,000 prize after a gruelling Zoom-based finale lip sync against fellow queens Gigi Goode and Crystal Methyd, and of course, because of current social distancing measures, Jaida didn't get to celebrate alongside her sisters properly.

That being said, Milwaukee didn't sleep on her win, and locals from her hometown came together to organise a drive-by parade for Jaida, including confetti, horn-beeping and all of the friends she'd been missing during the pandemic making an appearance to applaud her achievement.

READ MORE: Riverdale fans can’t get over Jordan Connor’s transformation on Celebrity Drag Race

“Y’all see exactly why I love my home town and my people,” Jaida captioned the video.“This was the best surprise.”

See the adorable moment it happened for yourself:

Usually, as Drag Race finales go, the queens attend viewing parties where they find out who won based off three alternate endings that were filmed - one of each of them taking home the crown, but of course, only one gets played on the night. Of course, this was the first time that we'd witnessed a queen win her season in real-time...and over video chat, so the drive-by welcome she received is totally heart-warming in these socially-distant times.

And she's already using her platform for good, by commenting on what it means to her, to be a black queen in a time where people are rising up against racism and taking control over the #BlackLivesMatter movement:

QUIZ: How many of these Drag Race queens can you actually remember?

“Right now, with what’s happening in the world, [I love] to be a black queen winning Drag Race, to be a black queen just being myself, to be a black queen who’s from where I’m from, to be a black queen who loves being a black queen while celebrating all the things about myself that make me unique in being a beautiful black person.

She added, "I hope I can inspire so many young, black people like myself who never feel like they’re special or that what they offer the world isn’t important. Hopefully, they see this and realise: ‘What I am and who I am is enough, I matter, and I have something special to offer to the world.'”

A worthy winner.

QUIZ: Who would your Snatch Game character be on Drag Race?