Ever since her appearance in season 7, Katya has become one of the most popular contestants of the entire RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. Since her debut on the show, this queen has done it all – from headlining comedy tours to hosting her own talk show on Viceland, from starting new podcasts to being featured in movies and other TV shows. That's not to mention her unforgettable performance on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2.
But even though fans have gotten a lot of content from Katya over the years, there is certainly still a lot to cover when it comes to this Russian queen. Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race who want to know more can learn a lot about this iconic, talented, and delightfully strange drag queen.
Katya Has Lost The Most Lip-Syncs In RuPaul's Drag Race History
There are many reasons for her popularity, including the fact that Katya is one of the most quotable RuPaul's Drag Race queens ever. But for all her talents, she's not exactly a lip-sync assassin. In fact, when it comes to losing lip-syncs on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Katya is a winner, baby. In total, the queen has lost five lip-syncs, which is more than any other contestant in the history of the franchise.
On season 7, when viewers first got to know Katya, the queen lost one lip-sync contest against Kennedy Davenport, which sent Katya out of the competition. Katya returned for All Stars 2 and performed well in the competition overall but lost all four times she had to lip-sync for her legacy. All of her losses were against Alaska (who went on to win the season) and Detox.
Katya Speaks Multiple Languages
Katya may not be Russian — she’s actually from Boston — but that doesn’t mean the queen is totally winging it when it comes to speaking the language. In fact, Katya speaks several languages other than English, including Russian and French. At times, she has been spotted speaking Japanese and Portuguese.
During the infamous Instagram live video in which Katya announced, in 2018, that she would be taking a break from doing drag, Katya spoke entirely in French, which prompted her fans to look for any translators who could figure out what the queen was saying.
Katya's "Party" Moment With Alaska Was Not Shady
One of the most memorable moments of All Stars 2 was when Alaska fell into the bottom two in a challenge for the first time ever, right before the finale, with both Katya and Detox (the other two frontrunners) having the power to eliminate her. The pressure got to Alaska, causing her to have a meltdown on camera.
When Alaska sat down with Katya to convince Katya not to eliminate her, Katya was somewhat overwhelmed by Alaska’s behavior. Seemingly unsure of what to say, Katya simply said “party” (Adore Delano’s catchphrase) to Alaska, which came off as incredibly shady.
However, according to Katya herself on her Whimsically Volatile podcast, she did not mean that in any negative way. In fact, she already knew that she wouldn’t eliminate Alaska, and thus did not understand what the fuss was all about.
Katya Is Named After A Famous Athlete
The origin of Katya’s name can be traced back as far as 2006, when Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova (her full name) came to life. According to Katya, her name is a combination of popular Russian names with Elena Zamolodchikova, who is her favorite gymnast from Russia.
In Russia, the name Katya is a popular nickname for a person named Yekaterina, which explains where the queen gets her most known stage name from. During her early drag days in Boston, Katya also used the alias "Katya Homophobia" to perform numbers that involved pop music. However, this alias was no longer used after Katya was cast on season 7 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Katya Has A Detailed (Fictional) Origin Story
According to the queen, Katya was born in Odessa, Ukraine but was raised in Moscow, Russia. All in all, Odessa is known as a touristic city that has the third largest population in the country. Moscow, on the other hand, is the capital of Russia, and has the largest concentration of people in the country.
It is interesting to note that, during her time on Drag Race, Katya used mostly U.S.S.R. references to display her character’s nationality, despite the fact that the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 and was not simply grounded in Russia.
Katya Has Cited Certain Comedians As Major Influences
When it comes to comedy influences, Katya only looks up to women.
During an interview with Hello Giggles alongside Trixie Mattel, Katya revealed that her comedy influences include Sandra Bernhard, who is best known for her work on Roseanne between 1991 and 1997. As an actress, she has been more recently seen on FX’s Pose as a nurse who focuses on treating HIV-infected patients. Katya also mentioned Bernhard’s I’m Still Here… Damn It! comedy special, which was recorded while the comedian was pregnant, as a major influence.
Katya Identifies As Bisexual
Out of drag, Katya is Brian McCook, who is a gay man. However, when in drag, Katya actually identifies as bisexual.
Despite the fact that Katya makes her sexual orientation very clear on RuPaul’s Drag Race, many fans fail to realize that her bisexuality is a running theme in her career. All in all, Katya is not shy about flirting with both men and women, and even got licked by Alaska during a lip-sync contest on All Stars 2.
Katya Auditioned For RuPaul's Drag Race Before Season 7
It took a long time for Katya to make it onto RuPaul’s Drag Race, but that doesn’t mean that the queen was not trying. In fact, fans can see Katya’s audition tape for season 3 during the “Casting Extravaganza” episode from that season.
Overall, Katya auditioned four times before being cast on Drag Race for season 7. The queen even alluded to her season 6 audition tape on Twitter, which means that she was trying to get on the show as recently as the year before she was finally cast.
Katya Held A RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Record For Many Years
Including Katya in All Stars 2 was one of the best casting decisions the show has ever made. Between 2016 and 2019, Katya held an All Stars record that many fans of the franchise may be unaware of. Until Monet X Change won All Stars 4 alongside Trinity The Tuck, Katya was the highest-placing All Stars contestant to have held the title of Miss Congeniality for their season.
In other words, until 2019, no other Drag Race Miss Congeniality had gotten as far as Katya did on All Stars 2. Every other Miss Congeniality who had competed on All Stars — Pandora Boxx, Yara Sofia, Latrice Royale, BenDeLaCreme, and Valentina — was sent home before getting to the finale. But then along came Monet X Change (season 10 Miss Congeniality), who took the crown on All Stars 4.
Katya Has An Active Acting Career
She may be one of the best queens to never win on RuPaul's Drag Race, but it is safe to say that Katya has had an incredibly successful mainstream career after her time on RuPaul’s Drag Race, way outpacing many of her peers. After appearing in the 2017 movie Sebastian and the 2018 short film The Quiet Room, Katya returned to the format alongside other Drag Race queens for Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate, starring season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio.
More recently, Katya has also started to make appearances on television as well. In 2018, the queen was featured on the HBO anthology series Room 104. Then, in 2019, Katya was also cast on Netflix’s Tales of the City, which featured Bob the Drag Queen on a recurring role. Most recently, Katya appeared as herself in Love, Victor.