Courtney Act
| Courtney Act | ||
 Courtney in 2017 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Born as: | Shane Gilberto Jenek | |
| Born | Feb 18, 1982 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | |
| Occupation: | Drag queen, TV personality, singer | |
| Years active: | 2000–present | |
| Website: | www.courtneyact.com | |
Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence by competing on the first season of Australian Idol in 2003. After the show, she signed to BMG Australia (now Sony Music Australia), and she released her debut single, Rub Me Wrong, which peaked at No. 29 on the ARIA Singles Chart and eventually gained a gold certification, ten years after its release. While auditioning for Australian Idol, she also became the first LGBTQ contestant to openly appear on a reality TV talent show. In 2014, Courtney was one of the runners-up in season six of RuPaul's Drag Race. In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed her third on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former Drag Race contestants.
In 2014, Courtney returned to recording music and released the extended play Kaleidoscope (2015), which included the title track which was the official song for the 2016 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Courtney began performing in a drag girl group, The AAA Girls, released several singles and embarked on the North American, Access All Areas Tour (2015). In January 2018, Courtney appeared on season 21 of Celebrity Big Brother UK and ultimately won the series with 49.43% of the final public vote. She began branching into a hosting career, hosting The Bi Life, the UK's first bisexual reality dating show, on E! and her own television special, The Courtney Act Show. Courtney released "Fight for Love" in late 2018 for the Eurovision - Australia Decides final; she finished in fourth place. In 2019, Courtney competed and was runner-up on season 16 of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars, where she was paired with Joshua Keefe. This made Courtney and Keefe the first same-sex pairing in the history of the Australian version, as well as the second same-sex pairing on any version of the show. Courtney/Jenek uses the pronoun she when referring to Courtney and he when referring to Jenek.
Early life
Jenek was born in Brisbane, Australia, and moved to Sydney at age 18. He was born to Gill and Annette Jenek and he has an older sister named Kim. Growing up, Jenek would always dress up and sing and dance. In 1987, he entered a competition, Tiny Tots, which was a charity pageant show for children. At a young age, Jenek began attending The Fame Talent School where he became close friends with twins Lisa Origliasso and Jessica Origliasso, who would later become The Veronicas. The group would perform together for twelve years. Jenek found school difficult due to bullying over his sexuality. He began to think something was wrong with him during his teenage years. Jenek received high grades at school and he was going to study medicine to become a doctor instead of an entertainer. He first attended the Stonewall Club in the mid-90s and Jenek states that was the start of his "big queer life". He originally intended to take the name Ginger Le'Bon and be a "redheaded, smoky-voiced nightclub singer." Instead, he took the stage name Courtney Act, which is a pun on the phrase caught in the act as pronounced in a non-rhotic accent such as Australian English. When growing up, Jenek couldn't identify with anything that was portrayed in the media.
Sources
- Wikipedia article: Courtney Act
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