RuPaul’s Drag Race: Katya Gets Candid about Trixie Mattel’s Doc & Friendship

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 7 contestant and All Stars 2 runner-up Katya has opened up about her friendship and working relationship with Trixie Mattel, commenting on their fallout – which was documented on Trixie’s Moving Parts documentary – and reflecting on the lessons she’s learned since the pair made up. Katya and Trixie met during the filming of Drag Race season 7, but their friendship did not flourish until after the show, when the queens were paired up for a special episode of Fashion Photo RuView and went on to star in their own talk show, UNHhhh. To date, UNHhhh is arguably the most-watched show on the WOW Presents Plus streaming platform, thus propelling these queens to land their own Viceland series, The Trixie & Katya Show, and Netflix web series, I Like To Watch.

During the filming of Viceland’s The Trixie & Katya Show, Katya experienced what she has described many times as a “psychotic break” from real life due to substance abuse. The queen checked herself into rehab and had to temporarily step away from drag, thus being replaced by Bob the Drag Queen on the Viceland talk show. At the time, Trixie Mattel had a camera crew following her around and capturing footage for what would become the Moving Parts documentary, which was supposed to be about Trixie’s life before, during, and after winning RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3. However, the camera crew just happened to be there on the exact day when Katya experienced her worst mental health day. With Katya’s approval, this very real and heartbreaking situation, which includes various subsequent fights with Trixie, was included in Moving Parts.

During an interview with the Shut Up Evan podcast, Katya got very candid about her friendship and working relationship with Trixie Mattel, offering her own point of view in relation to the events that transpired in Moving Parts. When Katya is asked about what she has learned from those experiences, the queen said, “Not to sound corny, but [Trixie has] taught me the real power and value of forgiveness.” Katya goes on to say that Trixie experienced both authentic and inebriated behaviors from her. And yet, Katya said, “[Trixie] just kind of waited it out. And forgave me. That is really incredible, because I kind of don’t know what I would’ve done in her situation.” Later, Katya praises her friend’s handling of the experience and commends her co-worker’s hard work to have a career that could stand on its own given the circumstances.

In typical Katya fashion, she closed out this section of the interview joking that Trixie Mattel’s attitude toward her during that time was akin to, “I can do this alone (…), but I’ll wait around for this jack*ss to get his sh*t together,” which Katya says is a testament to Trixie’s “coolness.” Currently, the two queens are working on promoting their joint book, Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood, which is slated for a July 14 release. Their WOW Presents Plus series is also still on the air, despite the modifications that took place due to coronavirus precautions.

RuPaul’s Drag Race fans were already well aware that Katya and Trixie had rekindled their friendship after its infamous fallout. However, this was the first time that Katya opened up in such detail about the lessons she learned and how she sees things now that they are on the other side.

Source: Shut Up Evan

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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