From London, Ontario, Insell, his brother Jeff, as well as sisters Samantha and Jennifer,[5] were born to Mary Insell[6] and James Peter Insell (1947-2018),[5] both boys being interested in creative pursuits from childhood, including early drag play.[7] His father received his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Western Ontario in 1983.[8] Respecting his father's wishes that he pursue a career-oriented education, he studied biology at the University of Western Ontario; following graduation, however, he opted not to pursue employment in the field and instead moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he began working as a costume and production designer.[7] He is married to Brady Taylor.[9]
Career
Insell has worked predominantly in local theatre, including productions of James and the Giant Peach[10]The Rocky Horror Show,[11] and Ride The Cyclone but has also had credits on a number of television films produced by Front Street Pictures for the Hallmark Channel,[7] and on the children's television series Pup Academy. He appeared in the music video for Victoria musician Adrian Chalifour's single "Open Heart".[12] He also appeared as the drag mother to British Columbian rapper bbno$ for the music video for his song "imma".[13]
Following Canada's Drag Race he toured the United Kingdom as part of the Klub Kids show with Rock M Sakura and Erika Klash,[17] and was the only queen from the season not to appear at any dates on the Canada's Drag Race Live at the Drive-In tour;[18] however, he did participate alongside Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo and Rita Baga in an online panel discussion as part of the Just for Laughs festival.[19]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, he also created a line of face masks through his design studio, with every purchase matched by a donation of a free mask to a homeless or low-income person,[2] and launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of House of Jimbo, a comedy and variety series he hopes to launch in the future.[20] Insell has described House of Jimbo as "the framework of a kids show, but really made for adults", comparable to Pee-wee's Playhouse or The Hilarious House of Frightenstein,[21] and the show reached its Kickstarter goal by the end of October 2020. At the same time the Chemainus-based Riot Brewing Company introduced Jimbo, a boysenberry-flavoured craft beer whose profits will go in part to funding House of Jimbo.[20]
In 2021 he made a return appearance in the second season of Canada's Drag Race, appearing in the third episode as the killer in the slasher film-themed acting challenge "Screech".[22] He returned in the third season of Canada's Drag Race in 2022, appearing as a guest judge in the episode "Bitch Stole My Look".[23]
In January 2022, he was announced as one of the nine contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World.[24] After winning the first two episodes of the season,[3] Jimbo landed in the bottom two in the third episode and was eliminated by Pangina Heals after Heals won a lipsync against Dutch contestant Janey Jacké to "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)" by the Vengaboys.[25] Jimbo's early elimination was dubbed one of the most "controversial" in the history of the franchise.[26]
Jimbo returned to the Drag Race franchise to compete on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race AllStars (2023). After winning a record-tying 4 challenges over the course of the season, Jimbo was crowned the winner of the season and earned a cash prize of $200,000 plus $20,000 for the 4 challenges he won, totalling $220,000.[4] After the airing of the season, Jimbo was announced to host her own WOW Presents Plus series, It's my Special Show!, which premiered on August 7, 2023.[27] In November 2023, Jimbo signed with talent agencies WME and Producer Entertainment Group.[28]
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