16 Lesser-Known Facts About Drag's Power-Duo Trixie And Katya

Throughout its decade-long run, RuPaul's Drag Race has done a stellar job of bringing talented drag performers into the public eye. From Sharon Needles to Shangela Laquifa Wadley, many of the show's stars have become household names. However, there are two queens who've gone above and beyond when it comes to carving out a post-Drag Race career.

Trixie Mattel and Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova - aka, Katya - have taken the drag scene, the YouTube scene, and the TV world by storm. The Daily Beast describes them as Drag Race "fan favorites", but there's much more to Trixie and Katya than that. Their multitude of talents have seen them achieve success in numerous industries, and their clearly tight friendship has kept their professional partnership alive. Though they may look like polar opposites - Katya being a pretty wacky yet ultimately "fishy" queen, and Trixie basically a cross between Dolly Parton and a Barbie doll - their different quirks only add to their entertainment value.

If you've ever wanted to learn a bit more about these fabulously funny queens, you're in the right place! Here are just some of the lesser-known facts about Trixie and Katya. Move over, RuPaul and Michelle Visage: there's a new dynamic duo in town!

16 Trixie Is A Country Music Sensation As Well As A Drag Queen

To say that Trixie Mattel is a queen of many talents is a bit of an understatement. It's not just her wigs that take inspiration from Dolly Parton! Trixie is a country music artist as well as a successful drag performer. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Trixie discussed her two albums to date: 2017's Two Birds and this year's One Stone.

She even admitted that seeing 'One Stone' hit the iTunes number one spot was actually more important to her than winning 'All-Stars 3'!

Interestingly, Trixie confessed in the same interview that she didn't even like country music until she reached adulthood! Despite learning guitar at the tender age of 13, it took a whole decade for Mattel to realize that country was her thang. Thank goodness she eventually saw the light!

15 Katya Isn't Actually Russian

With a name like Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, you'd expect both Katya and her creator, Brian McCook, to be at least a little bit Russian. When in-character, Katya's Russian accent is so spot-on that you'd be forgiven for thinking she's a native speaker. However, it turns out that it's all an elaborate and supremely well-executed act.

Don't let the furry hats and hammer-and-sickle outfits fool you: McCook is most definitely American!

According to the RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki, McCook is actually from Boston, Massachusetts. In an interview with SLUG Mag, he revealed that his Russian drag persona only emerged when he took a Russian language class in his final year of art school! A particularly sultry Russian teacher inspired McCook to the extent that his future career was born. That's one origin story and a half!

14 Trixie Is An Acclaimed Stand-Up Comedian

If you thought that drag and country music were Trixie Mattel's only talents, you'd be wrong! Mattel is also an acclaimed stand-up comedian, touring both individually and with other Drag Race queens. When profiling Trixie following her All-Stars 3 win, National Public Radio traced her comedy success to her stint on Drag Race Season 7. Admittedly, her witty workroom comments and sassy confessional put-downs did win Mattel a lot of fans. However, it's on the live comedy circuit that she's really made a name for herself.

In the wake of her All-Stars appearance, Mattel is embarking on a tour with her one-woman show, Moving Parts. As Out.com reports, the show features a mixture of Mattel's stand-up comedy and her original songs. However, Trixie herself told Out that she'll always consider herself a comedian first and foremost, no matter how well her music career does. She'll have us laughing for years to come!

13 Katya Will Soon Be Starring On The Big Screen

It's not just Trixie Mattel whose career is advancing by leaps and bounds at the moment! As Billboard recently reported, Katya will soon be making a big-screen appearance in the sequel to Bianca Del Rio's hit movie Hurricane Bianca. According to NewNowNext;

Katya will take on the role of Bianca's love interest in the appropriately titled 'From Russia With Hate!' That's no small part - well done to Katya!

As if that's not exciting enough, the movie will also star a whole roster of famous stars. Billboard reports that drag queens Darienne Lake, Shangela Laquifa Wadley, and Mrs. Kasha Davis will make appearances alongside Wanda Sykes, Cheyenne Jackson and more. It looks to be one hilarious film, and we couldn't be more excited.

12 Their Partnership Began On RuPaul's Drag Race

Now, how did these two incredibly talented queens meet? On RuPaul's Drag Race, of course! While it may seem like these two have been BFFs since birth, they actually only got close following their stint on the show's seventh season. It wasn't an immediate connection, either - it took time for their friendship to grow! In an interview with Cosmopolitan;

both Trixie and Katya conceded that they didn't hit it off immediately. In fact, it took both queens being eliminated from the show for them to actually become close!

Once they became friends, though, Trixie and Katya were basically inseparable. They told Cosmo that they bonded through long phone conversations, which, despite Katya's jokes, were NOT raunchy at all! According to Trixie, their friendship is so strong not because they have a lot in common, but because they have the same sense of humor. It definitely shows!

11 Their Eliminations Were Both Controversial

Speaking of their time on Drag Race, Katya and Trixie had one thing in common when it came to the show. They both had pretty controversial eliminations! In Katya's case, The Daily Beast was so upset that she didn't make it to the final that they ran a story demanding "Justice For Katya!" Wow! It's true that many fans were displeased when this fan favorite was eliminated. However, they channeled this anger into voting her the Miss Congeniality of her season!

As for Trixie, she was eliminated not once but twice in Season 7! After her first exit, Trixie herself admitted to The Huffington Post that her fans were furious that she'd been sent home. Her lip sync against Pearl was too close to call, and fans insisted that Ru had got it wrong by eliminating Mattel. A few weeks later, Trixie got a second chance when she won the right to return to the show, eventually finishing sixth. What a rollercoaster ride!

10 They Both Have The Same 'Boy' Name

While Katya and Trixie's drag personas couldn't be more different, the two have one surprising thing in common when the wigs, make-up, and dresses come off. They have the same 'boy' name!

Katya is otherwise known as Brian McCook, while Trixie is the alter ego of Brian Michael Firkus. What a weird coincidence!

Despite having the same name, these two performers have pretty different backgrounds. As we previously mentioned, McCook was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. In contrast, AllMusic reports that Firkus hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Interestingly, Firkus comes from a Native American family: he discussed his half-Ojibwe heritage in an interview with Milwaukee Magazine. He notes that while his drag persona embodies a rich, white woman, this serves as a "vacation" from his roots that makes him love them even more. So wholesome!

9 Their YouTube Series Is Unusual But A Huge Hit

One of the first joint ventures that Katya and Trixie embarked on following their Drag Race stint was their YouTube series, UNHhhh. Posted on the World of Wonder YouTube channel, UNHhhh featured these two queens chatting about… Well, whatever crossed their minds, really. Described by HisKind as "injuriously hilarious and wildly inappropriate", the show quickly gained a cult following online.

It's attracted over 21 million collective YouTube views across 68 episodes.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. NewNowNext broke the news at the end of last year that UNHhhh's 68th episode would be its last, citing Katya and Trixie's need to move on to new projects. Don't worry, though - this wasn't the end of their beautiful professional partnership! In fact, it was only the beginning…

8 They Now Have A Successful TV Show Together

So, remember those "new projects" that Trixie and Katya ended UNHhhh to pursue? Turns out one of them was a brand new TV show! Out.com revealed last year that the duo would soon be hosting The Trixie and Katya Show on Vice's TV channel Viceland. This wasn't just a personal career boost for these two queens: it also marked a momentous milestone in LGBTQ+ representation on TV.

As The Daily Beast reported, Trixie and Katya became the first queens to host a TV show since RuPaul herself fronted a VH1 series over twenty years ago.

From the start, The Trixie and Katya Show was a hit. The Daily Beast praised the fact that it still maintained the same warmth and general vibe as UNHhhh. However, the show's future was jeopardized in February of this year when Katya took a break from drag for "personal reasons." Luckily, though, NewNowNext announced that Bob The Drag Queen would temporarily fill Katya's shoes. The show must go on!

7 Trixie Has Supported Katya Through Her Personal Struggles

When Katya announced her break from drag earlier this year, her fans were understandably worried. In a previous interview with Billboard, this queen had come clean about her previous issues with substance misuse. Many fans were concerned that this sudden break from the drag industry signaled a relapse on Katya's part. Unfortunately, they were soon proved right. Gay Star News reported in March that Katya had recently attended a rehabilitation facility after an arrest.

While dependency is a difficult and traumatic experience for any sufferer, Katya has acknowledged that she's lucky to have a strong support network to help her through. In her Billboard interview, she praised Trixie's support, stating that her BFF is one of her main motivations to stay sober. Here's hoping that things only get better for Katya now!

6 Katya Helped Trixie To Prepare For All Stars 3

As any RuPaul's Drag Race fan will know, Trixie recently competed in the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars. Not only that, she went on to win the competition! Of course, it must have helped that she had an All-Stars veteran to turn to for advice. Katya memorably starred in All-Stars 2, becoming what Screener described as the "People's Princess" of that season. The fans loved her and were gutted when Katya's rival Alaska snatched the crown.

We know for a fact that Katya actively supported Trixie in her All-Stars 3 journey thanks to an interview the pair did with Cosmopolitan Australia.

The two queens revealed that filming for The Trixie and Katya Show took place around the same time as All-Stars 3's shooting schedule. While taking breaks from their Viceland show, Trixie and Katya would spend their time jointly sewing outfits for the former to take to Drag Race. That's true friendship!

5 They Once Did A Outlandish Photoshoot Together

Have you ever been in a friendship so close that you guys actually took part in a totally risque photoshoot together? No? Well, Trixie and Katya have! Don't ask me why: these two never actually explained the context or reason for these photos existing. However, they each posted snaps from this shoot to their Twitter accounts. The pictures are black and white, very artsy, and as absurd as you'd expect from this pair.

Katya's post was, strangely enough, the more understated of the two. This photo simply depicted these two queens embracing their bare selves, totally devoid of both clothes and their drag makeup. Trixie's snap, on the other hand, also included photographer Aaron Jay Young! Young ended up sandwiched between Katya and Trixie, and it's a photo and a half. Well, you know what RuPaul says: we're all born naked, and the rest is drag!

4 Their Friendship Is Frequently Long-Distance - And They're Fine With It

One of the consequences of becoming a world-famous drag queen is having to travel - A LOT. Katya alluded to this in an interview with Billboard, stating that drag queens are "alternative, cross-dressing prophets who travel around the globe". Well, that's one way of putting it! Of course, Trixie and Katya don't always travel together.

They have individual careers outside of their creative partnership and aren't permanently joined at the hip. You might say that they're in an LDF: a long-distance friendship!

While not being able to see your BFF for weeks or months on end is obviously rough, Trixie and Katya claim that they don't mind it too much. In the same Billboard interview, Trixie stated that while she's rarely in the same physical place as Katya, they're always on the same page emotionally. That's true friendship, guys!

3 They Haven't Fallen Out, No Matter What Some Fans Think

When a friendship between two well-known people plays out on social media, fans tend to read into their interactions a little bit too much. This was the case with Trixie and Katya back at the start of 2018. Around the same time Katya announced her break from drag, Hornet.com noted that the star had also unfollowed Trixie on Instagram. Fans immediately went into a frenzy: did this mean the two queens had ended their friendship? What was happening?!

Well, just a few days later Trixie spoke out to reassure everyone that she and Katya were, in fact, still friends. She told Life & Style that she still texts or speaks to Katya every day and that they're still cool with each other. Then, after Trixie won All-Stars 3, Billboard reported that Katya had spoken out to say how proud she was of her partner in comedy. That doesn't sound like two people who've ended a friendship!

2 They Have Some Amazing Comedy Inspirations

Behind every amazing comedian is a roster of other performers who inspired that person to seek out their dream career. We've all got those idols that we wish to emulate one day, even if it's only in terms of the level of success we achieve! Well, Katya and Trixie have those inspirations too, especially when it comes to their comedic careers. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Trixie highlighted Tim and Eric, Eric Andre, and Maria Bamford as some of the duo's main comedy idols.

Katya, on the other hand, freely admits that all of her comedy inspirations are women! In conversation with HelloGiggles, she and Trixie named Ellen DeGeneres, Sandra Bernhard, and Sarah Silverman as just some of the female comics that they admire. Adorably, Trixie also stated that Katya is a major inspiration for her own career. Friendship goals!

1 They've Starred Together On Stage

They've shared the screen on both YouTube and TV, but did you know that Trixie and Katya have also shared a stage? HelloGiggles notes that these two queens recently starred in Trixie and Katya's High School Reunion, a live show produced by fellow queen Peaches Christ. It was an adaptation of the 1997 movie Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, and it went down a storm.

NewNowNext reported that both performances of this San Francisco-based show totally sold out - and for good reason!

Trixie and Katya perfectly recreated the iconic interpretative dance scene from the movie, serving some authentic 1990s look in the process. It was apparently a sight to behold, and we only wish we'd had the chance to see it for ourselves!

References: The Daily Beast; Rolling Stone; RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki; The Record; Out; Billboard; Cosmopolitan; The Daily Beast; The Huffington Post; AllMusic; HisKind; Out; Billboard; Cosmopolitan; Life And Style Mag; Billboard; HelloGiggles; Twitter; Twitter; Hornet; Screener TV; NewNowNext; Gay Star News; NewNowNext; YouTube; Milwaukee Mag; NewNowNext; Slug Mag; NewNowNext