Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, often known mononymously as Katya, is the drag persona of Brian Joseph McCook, an American drag queen, actor, and comedian. Katya is best known for placing fifth on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and placing as runner-up on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, as well as for appearing in the World of Wonderweb seriesUNHhhh and the Viceland series The Trixie & Katya Show alongside co-host and fellow Season 7 alum Trixie Mattel. In June 2019, New York magazine published the results from their panel of judges and writers which ranked her in the top twenty Drag Race superstars.
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. When creating his drag character, McCook stated that he was inspired by "female comedians and just funny interesting women like Tracy Ullman, Maria Bamford, Lana del ReyAmy Sedaris." 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 six inch stilettos in the snow." McCook is not Russian himself, but took several Russian language courses and used a cassette tape called "Pronounce It Perfectly" to master the accent. In addition to speaking Russian, he can also speak fluent French and has been spotted speaking Japanese and Portuguese. As Katya, McCook hosted a monthly drag show called "Perestroika" at the Jacques Cabaret. 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.
''RuPaul's Drag Race''
Katya auditioned for RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo TV four times before being chosen to participate in season 7. She is seen auditioning for the show back in Season 3's Casting Extravaganza. 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. During the Season 7 reunion, she was voted Miss Congeniality by fans. On May 16, 2016, Katya appeared at the finale of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8 to crown the next Miss Congeniality: Cynthia Lee Fontaine. On June 17, 2016, Katya was announced as one of the cast members on the , where she was a runner-up along with fellow contestant Detox.
Other projects
Katya has uploaded several web series on her YouTube channel, "welovekatya", including RuGRETs, RuFLECTIONS, Drag 101, Total RuCall, 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". Katya also features in Trixie Mattel's album Homemade Christmas in the song "The Night Before Contact". Along with fellow Drag Race contestant Trixie Mattel, Katya co-hosted a web series on the World of Wonder YouTube channel called UNHhhh, 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. Katya had a role in the 2018 film , directed by Matt Kugelman and starring Bianca del Rio in the lead role. In 2018, Katya co-hosted a podcast called Whimsically Volatile with Craig MacNeil. In November 2019, it was announced on the podcast that Katya will be leaving the show. In the fall of 2018, Katya and Trixie revitalized their web series UNHhhh on WOWPresents Plus as well as YouTube due to the overall popularity and success of the show. In the spring 2019, Katya announced her touring comedy show, "Help Me I'm Dying". The tour was filmed for a comedy special of the same name that aired on OutTV in Canada in October 2019. It was available on demand in February 2020 and aired on Logo TV on March 4, 2020. In November 2019, Katya and Trixie Mattel cohosted a new show on the Netflix Youtube channel called I Like to Watch where they react to various shows on Netflix. He released his first book Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood in July 14th, 2020, it was published by Plume Books and co-written with fellow Drag Race contestant Trixie Mattel, the book debuted at number two on The New York Times Best Seller list for "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous".
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. Returning to Twitter in March 2018, McCook announced that the tour would likely be renamed due to his recovery. On the March 20, 2018 episode of his podcast, Whimsically Volatile, McCook described his drag hiatus in detail, saying he had suffered a psychotic break after relapsing into the use of methamphetamines. He briefly returned to live with his family in Massachusetts before entering a rehabilitation center in Arizona.
