Sheldon Orlando McIntosh, known professionally as Tynomi Banks, is a Canadian

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

. A staple of Toronto's queer nightlife scene since the 2010s, Tynomi Banks performed in drag for over a decade before competing on the first season of the

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

television series ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to t ...

'' (2020) and later the second season of '' Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World'' (2024).

Early life

Born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and raised in

Pickering, Ontario Pickering (2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 99,186) is a city located in Southern Ontario, Canada, immediately east of Toronto in Durham Region, Ontario, Durham Region. Beginning in the 1770s, the area was settled by primarily British colon ...

, McIntosh later attended

Durham College Durham College is a public college in Ontario, Canada, with two main campuses in Oshawa and Whitby. Durham College offers over 145+ academic programs, including six bachelor degrees and eleven apprenticeship programs, to around 13,700 full-ti ...

, studying public relations.

Career

A staple of Toronto's queer nightlife scene, Tynomi Banks has performed in the entertainment industry as a

at bars, festivals, and events for over a decade. In 2018, during

Pride Toronto Pride Toronto is an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in June each year to celebrate the LGBTQ community in the Greater Toronto Area. The centre of the festival is the city's Church and Wellesley village, while the parade and m ...

, she was selected to participate in a marketing campaign for Crest and curated

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

's playlist for the

gay pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...

event. Tynomi Banks was a trophy bearer during the

7th Canadian Screen Awards The seventh annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 31, 2019, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2018.Joseph Amenta Joseph Amenta is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, whose debut feature film '' Soft'' premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Prior to ''Soft'', Amenta directed a number of short films, the most noted of which, ''Flood' ...

's short film ''Flood'', which premiered at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

. Tynomi Banks was a spokesperson for the Spanish jewelry company

Carrera y Carrera Carrera y Carrera is a Spanish jewelry company. Headquartered in San Agustín del Guadalix, Madrid, its origins date back to 1885 when Saturio Esteban Carrera opened a small jewelry workshop in the Barrio de las Letras. During the 1970s, his g ...

, as of 2020. In February 2021, Tynomi Banks released a

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

-themed clothing line. In June 2021, she performed as a part of the Drive ’N Queens Summer Series.

Television and music

In 2019, Tynomi Banks appeared in the second season of the documentary series ''

Canada's a Drag ''Canada's a Drag'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian documentary series that premiered on CBC Gem on March 7, 2018. The show was created by Peter Knegt and Mercedes Grundy. Each episode focuses on a drag (clothing), drag performer from a diff ...

''. The following year, she competed on the first season of the

television series ''

'', based on the American series ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''. One of the more popular contestants entering the competition, Tynomi Banks was eliminated during the fourth episode after placing in the bottom and lip syncing for her life three weeks in a row. Although no official Miss Congeniality was named in-show for the season, she won an informal poll of the queens in post-elimination interviews with the entertainment website '' PopBuzz''. In 2021, Tynomi Banks appeared in an advertisement for the online financial management platform

Wealthsimple Wealthsimple Inc. is a Canadian online investment management service. The firm was founded in September 2014 by Michael Katchen, Brett Huneycutt, Som Seif, and Rudy Adler and is based in Toronto. As of June 11, 2025, the firm holds over C$70 bill ...

, which premiered during the Canadian broadcast of

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

. She competed on the second season of '' Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World'', which aired in 2024. Banks signed to Wax Records, and released her debut single "Die for Love" in 2024."Drag superstar Tynomi Banks on her debut single and friendship with Nelly Furtado"
''

Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...

'', June 27, 2024. In the same year she appeared as a guest vocalist on "Save Your Breath", a song from

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

's new album '' 7''.Sam Damshenas
"Drag Race: Tynomi Banks on her Canada vs the World exit and Nelly Furtado collab"
''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''GAY TIMES Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ magazine established in 1984. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company began including content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

'', August 7, 2024.

Personal life

McIntosh is

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

, and is based in Toronto. His drag artistry is inspired by

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...

, and

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

, and he is known for impersonating

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

. He has spoken to the media about his Jamaican heritage and how it influences his drag and performance style.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

* ''

Bring Back My Girls ''Bring Back My Girls'' is a reality television series hosted by American television personality Ts Madison. The first season premiered October 18, 2022 on WOW Presents Plus. The series is formatted as a reunion special, where in every epis ...

'' (2022)

Music videos

Discography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tynomi Banks Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Black Canadian LGBTQ people Canada's Drag Race contestants Canadian drag queens Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian queer people Drag performers from Toronto Durham College alumni