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Katya Zamolodchikova

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Katya Zamolodchikova
Katya performing in March 2015
Born
Brian Joseph McCook

(1982-05-01) May 1, 1982 (age 42)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupations
Years active2006–present [1]
Known for
Websitewelovekatya.com

Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova (Russian: Екатерина Петро́вна Замоло́дчикова), often known mononymously as Katya (Russian: Катя), is the drag persona of Brian Joseph McCook (born May 1, 1982), an American drag queen, actor and comedian. Katya is best known as a contestant on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. Along with fellow Drag Race contestant Trixie Mattel, she hosted UNHhhh, a web series hosted on the World of Wonder YouTube channel.[2][3] After UNHhhh ended, she became co-host of The Trixie & Katya Show on Viceland. Katya currently co-hosts a podcast called Whimsically Volatile.[4]

Early life

A native of Marlborough, Massachusetts, McCook graduated from Marlborough High School and attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he studied video and performance art in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) program, where he first became interested in drag.[5] He has an older brother and a younger sister. He is of Irish ancestry and was raised Catholic.[6]

McCook created the Russian drag character Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova in 2006, taking the stage name from a combination of Russian names and one of his favorite gymnasts, Elena Zamolodchikova.[7] When creating his drag character, McCook stated that he was inspired by "female comedians and just funny interesting women like Tracy Ullman, Maria Bamford [and] Amy Sedaris."[8] McCook stated on Drag Race that the Russian-based aspect of his persona was inspired by a professor he had while studying at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, who "never left the house without a full face of makeup [with] six inch stilettos in the snow."[9] McCook is not Russian himself, but took several Russian language courses and used a cassette tape called "Pronounce It Perfectly" to master the accent.[10]

As Katya, McCook hosted a monthly drag show called "Perestroika" at the Jacques Cabaret.[11] Katya became known on the local drag scene in Boston for performing songs by popular Russian artists such as Alla Pugacheva, t.A.T.u. and Glukoza.

Career

RuPaul's Drag Race

Katya had auditioned for RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo TV four times before being chosen to participate in season 7.[12] She won two challenges before being eliminated in episode 11, finishing in fifth place. The decision to eliminate her was controversial, as she was popular among viewers.[13] During the Season 7 reunion, she was voted Miss Congeniality by fans.

On June 17, 2016, Katya was announced as one of the cast members on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars.[14] Along with Detox, she ultimately placed as a runner-up to winner Alaska Thunderfuck.

Other projects

Katya and Trixie Mattel in 2017

Katya has uploaded several web series on her YouTube channel, "welovekatya", including RuGRETs, RuFLECTIONS, Drag 101, and Irregardlessly Trish, the last of which is about a Bostonian hairdresser who lives in a dumpster. Katya improvises some of her material and also writes with a creative partner, Avi Paul Weinstein.

In November 2015, Katya appeared on the Christmas Queens album, singing a modified version of the song "12 Days of Christmas".[15]

Katya has a show on the World of Wonder YouTube channel with fellow Drag Race contestant Trixie Mattel called UNHhhh,[16] which debuted in March 2016. On August 21, 2017, it was announced that Katya and Trixie would have their own show on Viceland, titled The Trixie & Katya Show, which premiered on November 15, 2017.[17]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015 RuPaul's Drag Race Himself (contestant) Season 7 – placed 5th, won Miss Congeniality [18]
2016 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself (in drag) Season 8, Episode 10: "Grand Finale" [19]
2016 Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul Himself (panelist) Season 1, Episode 2: "Featuring Amber Rose" [20]
2016 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars Himself (contestant) Season 2 – Runner-Up [21]
2017 Playing House Herself (in drag) Season 3, Episode 8: "Reverse the Curse"
2017–present The Trixie & Katya Show Herself (in and out of drag) Host
2018 America's Next Top Model Herself (in drag) Cycle 24, Episode 6
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself (in drag) Season 10, Episode 1

Web series

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015 Untucked Herself (in drag) Online sister show to RuPaul's Drag Race [22]
RuFLECTIONS Chronicling her time on RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 [23]
RuGRETS [24]
Irregardlessly Trish Trish Series following one of her alter-egos, Trish [25]
2016 I'm Not a Doctor, with Dr. Katya Herself (in drag) Produced by World of Wonder [26]
Drag 101 [27]
Total RuCall Chronicling her time on RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race season 2 [28]
2016–2017 UNHhhh Produced by World of Wonder, with Trixie Mattel [16]

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2016 Redmond Hand, Private Dick Informant Short film [29]
2017 Sebastian Xenia [30]
2018 Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate Katya [31]

Discography

Other appearances

Title Year Other artist(s) Album Ref.
"Drag U" 2015 RuPaul RuPaul Presents: CoverGurlz 2 [32]
"12 Days of Christmas" Other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Christmas Queens [33]
"Read U Wrote U" 2016 RuPaul featuring Katya, Alaska, Detox & Roxxxy Andrews Non-album single [34]
"Bossa Nova Christmas in Outer Space" Jackie Beat Christmas Queens 2 [35]
"The Night Before Contact" 2017 Trixie Mattel Homemade Christmas

Personal life

In January 2018, McCook announced a hiatus from drag for mental health reasons, and his comedy tour as Katya, "Help Me, I'm Dying", was postponed until spring 2019.[36][37] Returning to Twitter in March 2018, McCook announced that the tour would likely be renamed due to his recovery.[38]

On the March 20 episode of his podcast, Whimsically Volatile, McCook described his brief hiatus in detail, saying he had suffered a psychotic break after relapsing into the use of methamphetamine. He briefly returned to live with his family in Massachusetts before entering a rehabilitation center in Arizona.[39]

References

  1. ^ https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8094403/rupaul-drag-race-star-katya-announces-drag-hiatus
  2. ^ "UNHhhh - YouTube". YouTube. WOWPresents.
  3. ^ Pandaraboyina, Vennela. "Queens, wigs, and RuPaul - Campus Times". Campus Times. Campus Times. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  4. ^ Daw, Stephen (March 21, 2018). "'Drag Race' Star Katya Reveals She Attended Rehab During Hiatus on New Podcast 'Whimsically Volatile'". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  5. ^ Infante, Victor D. "Marlboro-born performer Katya shoots for 'Drag Race' fame". telegram.com. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  6. ^ Episode 76 - Katya, retrieved December 15, 2016
  7. ^ Andre Akimov. "His name is Katya". RUSSIAN CHICAGO MAGAZINE. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  8. ^ "Interview with Katya Zamo - Examiner.com" (PDF). examiner.com. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  9. ^ "Katya Gets To Work - Video Clip from RuPaul's Drag Race | S7, E1 | LOGOTV.com". Logo TV. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  10. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race': Miss Congeniality winner Katya speaks!". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  11. ^ Oliver, Maria (April 29, 2011). "Night Watch: Perestroika". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  12. ^ Juengling, Konrad (March 6, 2015). "PQ MONTHLY GRILLS KATYA OF "RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE" SEASON 7". PQ Monthly. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  13. ^ Fallon, Kevin. "Justice for Katya: Inside the 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 7 Finale". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  14. ^ "RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race season 2 cast revealed — exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  15. ^ "Queens from RuPaul's Drag Race to Release a Holiday Album: Hear One of the Tracks". People Magazine. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Trixie Mattel And Katya Are A Laugh Riot In Their New Web Series, "UNHhhh"". Next. March 25, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  17. ^ http://www.vulture.com/2017/08/trixie-mattel-and-katya-are-getting-their-own-show-honey.html
  18. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race recap: season seven, episode one – the devil wears nada". The Guardian. March 3, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  19. ^ "Red Carpet Fashion: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8 Los Angeles Finale". Qweerty. May 11, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  20. ^ "Gay For Play Game Show Starring RuPaul Featuring Amber Rose". Logo. April 12, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  21. ^ "RuPaul All Stars Announcement". Twitter. June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  22. ^ "Untucked: RuPaul's Drag Race Episode 1 Born Naked". WOWPresents on Youtube. March 3, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  23. ^ "RuFLECTIONS with Katya". welovekatya on YouTube. March 4, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  24. ^ "RuGRETS with Katya". welovekatya on YouTube. March 4, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  25. ^ "Irregardlessly Trish". welovekatya on YouTube. May 20, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  26. ^ "I'm Not A Doctor". WOWPresents on YouTube. March 7, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  27. ^ "Drag 101 with Katya". welovekatya on YouTube. February 16, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  28. ^ "Total RuCall - Episode 01 - We Love Katya". welovekatya on YouTube. August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  29. ^ [1]. Vimeo, 2016
  30. ^ "Sebastian". Inside Out Film and Video Festival, 2017.
  31. ^ [2]. IMDB, 2018
  32. ^ "RuPaul Presents CoverGurlz2". iTunes. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  33. ^ "Christmas Queens". iTunes. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  34. ^ "RuPaul Announces New Single "Read U Wrote U"". Idolator. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  35. ^ "Christmas Queens 2 by Various Artists on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  36. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race star Katya to take a break from drag after opening up about mental health". PinkNews. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  37. ^ "Read Katya's heartfelt message to fans after postponing tour dates". Gay Times. January 18, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  38. ^ "Katya on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  39. ^ Kelly, Emma (March 23, 2018). "Drag Race star Katya had 'complete psychotic break from reality' on crystal meth".
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