The way many people feel in between sports seasons is the way I feel between seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race – vaguely empty inside and eagerly awaiting the next round of fierce competition until a new victor is crowned. Fortunately, many Drag Race alumni are keeping us entertained until the next crop of queen-testants showcase their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent in hopes of becoming America’s Next Drag Superstar.
Hot on the heels of their wildly successful YouTube series, UNHhhh, Trixie Mattel (from Drag Race season seven and the upcoming third season of All-Stars) and Katya Zamolodchikova (also from Drag Race season seven and All-Stars season two) have landed a new talk show. The show has a somewhat obvious title, The Trixie and Katya Show, and airs on Viceland on Wednesday nights. The pair spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the new show, their experiences on Drag Race and so much more. Obviously, the whole interview is a scream, but here are some highlights:
On the success of UNHhhh:
Katya: I’m not trying to be falsely modest, but I became aware of the success of the web show because, twofold, it was referenced more and more at meet-and-greets than the actual Drag Race show. So I was like, “Oh, this is making a big impact.” And then, one day, I was at my computer and I saw that one of them had a million views and I was like, “Whoa.” So that was my experience.
Trixie: we think that the show is so funny. So for other people to think what we think is so funny is funny, it’s just more fun as a group. But even if no one liked it, I think that we would still make it. We watch it and full-on barnyard animal laugh at it. I laugh at our series, I think it’s so funny. I listen to my own music, I look at pictures of myself naked, and you know what? Damn.
What we can expect on The Trixie and Katya Show:
Trixie: Yeah, you’re going to see us doing things we’ve never done before. Things out of drag, we actually have a lot more games and organized pieces. So if you’re new to the series, you’re not quite going to get as, like, f–ked by the insanity of it. But it’s going to be the same sort of offbeat comedy. I’m still screaming, that’s my laugh. Katya’s still saying something really horrible and then looking at the camera and posing. [The show] still has a lot of that normal stuff.
A topic that probably won’t be covered on the show:
Katya: Yeah, like, I want to talk about racism, but it’s not the right topic for me and her to talk about. Because we’re two white men, can you imagine how complicated that would be? Two white men who happen to be dressed like weird doll-people trying to talk about racism? There’s more articulate and important people expounding on that topic in a real, effective way. So we don’t need to talk about that.
Katya on incorporating her botched suicide attempt into season two:
Katya: No, no, no, you can go on the record that if we get a season two, the first episode is going to be about suicide. Because I think that’s what we do!
Trixie: In either of our stories, we’re not the winner. And none of our stories are about us getting it right. If anything, we give insight on life through how many ways we’ve done it wrong. Like, we got it wrong, and we’re still here.
Katya: Yeah! I once took like 82 pills of ibuprofen. Ibuprofen does not kill you. It’s like, there is nothing more embarrassing than a botched suicide attempt.
Trixie: Yeah, not only are you still alive, but everyone knows you’re stupid.
Katya: Yes, and then, it’s, like, exacerbated by the point that I have to be hospitalized because the legality of the situation requires me to be hospitalized. So I kind of have to go along with the charade. But, seriously, it is bad, and if you throw yourself in front of a train and you survive, that’s a miracle. If you miss yourself with a bullet that you put in the gun, that’s a miracle. Mine was a humiliation, and now the general public needs to pay for it. [Laughs]
Trixie: [Laughs] Yeah, this could have just been The Trixie Show if she would have f–king done it right.
On the continuing appeal of Drag Race:
Trixie: We are weirdos within a weird community. You don’t have to do drag, you don’t have to be gay or marginalized in any way, but we’ve all felt like the weirdo or felt like the outsider, so on Drag Race, you watch an outsider in a room full of other outsiders embrace their outsider-ness so fiercely that they command an audience to think they are the coolest person in the world. Like, no matter what you’re into, that’s inspiring. Like, the feathers, the boas, the sequins, that’s all great. But what you really watch it for, you watch it for a room full of people who know damn well that they are not women, all just agreeing to suspend disbelief for the fun of it, and that’s inspiring.
Katya was one of the last Drag Race queens I interviewed in my previous entertainment journalist life and I adore her. It’s no surprise that she won Miss Congeniality on her season of the show. She and Trixie have the best chemistry I’ve seen since Raven and Jujubee, and their stuff together is a scream. If you can’t get enough of Katya (and who can?), she is co-starring with RPDR season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio in the sequel of her cult favorite Hurricane Bianca. Check out this behind the scenes look at the production (with bonus Shangela!) and make sure to tune into The Trixie and Katya Show Wednesday nights at 10pm on Viceland.
Photos: Getty Images, Instagram/katya_zamo
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