International Mr. Leather Bo Ladashevska was here in March to judge the Mr. San Diego Leather Contest and is the only Canadian ever to win IML. Let’s look at what arouses the sexy, “not complicated” and “easy to please, nice guy” as he passes on his sash this weekend in Chicago.

Rocket: How have you impacted the Canadian leather scene as the first Canadian IML?

Bo Ladashevska: Canadians won IML and International Mr. Boot Black with Benjamin Palmer. For the most part, we don’t place as much emphasis on the title circuit as Americans. People here are more fluid in their definitions of who they are and often migrate between leather/bear/fetish/circuit/plain gay/camping, etc.

Rocket: When did you think you might win IML?

BL: People were telling me I’d win, but I didn’t take them seriously. No one would come up to me and say, “You’re gonna lose, buddy.” I’m relatively quiet, soft spoken and somewhat shy, and that little voice in my head said, “They’re never going to pick the fat kid from Winnipeg.”

Rocket: What was your first reaction?

BL: When they called my name, [my] first thoughts [were]: “Fuck, you’ve got to be kidding. No fucking way. Now what the fuck am I going to… smile…. Where’s [my partner] Guy? Guess I can’t go dance tonight. Oh my God, my pants are too tight to get up on the podium.” Then blank.

Rocket: Are IML’s more political or sexual?

BL: I’m political when needed and sexual when I need, [or] want, to be. I respect the institution of IML and I’m true to my Canadian sensibilities as well. I don’t attend play parties if I don’t know a lot of the players because I end up feeling like I’m on display. I do get off on exhibitionism, but it kills the mood when you’re in a scene and you hear: “Look, that’s Bo. He’s IML….” This bitch ain’t nobody’s trophy fuck! There are sash fuckers out there who want to say they played/fucked with IML. I need quality, not quantity – and a big dick helps, too. When I was home in Montreal, I fucked like a rabbit. There’s no place like home when home is Montreal!

Rocket: What’s the best place you visited as IML?

BL: Each visit had its merits. There were certainly memorable circumstances. Folsom Europe Berlin and the Pig Party were hands down the best – an evening of debauchery and several thousand men doing what they love: sex “sans limite.”

Being in my home town of Winnipeg for an event and to be a part of a revival of leather and fetish was probably one of the most special times.

Rocket: You describe yourself as having “a teddy-bear disposition.”

BL: I can be nasty but I like to cuddle, kiss and hug. The teddy bear I sleep with has been with me for 14 years this August.

Rocket: What makes your Swedish massage so great?

BL: Oh sigma, you cad, are you fishing for info or flirting?

Rocket: Flirting! Definitely flirting!

BL: You’ll just have to wait and see. Although, the massage wouldn’t get too far with you on the table.

Rocket: I’m counting on it

BL: I love giving a deep massage. I love having a naked man lying before me with his arse in the air. The feel of muscle and tendon sliding through my fingers; the building of sexual tension is an amazing thing when a man touches another man. I can bring a man to the edge and keep him there until I’m ready to have him.

Rocket: Definitely counting on it! In your profile, you mention “odd playmate(s).”

BL: “Odd,” well I said “odd” playmate as I didn’t want people to think I’m a whore. It’s not that odd, but having a foot up my butt. It’s the things that go through my head then –that’s odd – it’s hard to keep a straight face. Another would be finding a golf ball in my butt the next day and laughing my guts out in the shower and calling Guy to tell him what I found. I think the oddest thing was being strapped to a fuck bench and being fucked by a trans with a strap-on. It was hot, but odd.

Rocket: What’s so exciting about “puppy play”?

BL: Sniffing your crotch, sigma, and hearing you squeal like a little girl in front of your peers would have to be the most exciting thing I’ve ever done as a puppy.

Rocket: I wasn’t squealing like a little girl, I was squealing like a pig! Your partner is very hot, also. How has he handled your fame?

BL: Yes he is [hot]. Well, the night I won IML, people started calling him a sash widow and he quickly proclaimed, “I’m not buying that shit, I’m First Lady of Leather,” and extended his hand to be kissed. He’s priceless and is my rock. I’m still Bo and he’s still Guy, and after 13 years together, a year shouldn’t change anything.

Rocket: What’s the first thing you’ll do after you step down as IML?

BL: Life goes on. I jokingly mentioned that the first thing I want to do is sleep! But I miss my husband, my dog and Montreal, and the summer is ours to reconnect. I can’t wait!

If you’re not at IML already to see Bo step down, then it’s too late.

The San Diego Gay Rodeo is the following weekend. For details, visit sandiegorodeo.com. See ya there or In the Pit!