Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
This November, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova will move from the World of Wonder to the land of Vice. Their new Viceland series, The Trixie & Katya Show, will pick up where their YouTube series UNHhhh left off–meaning there’s a whole lot of frank advice, unfiltered sex talk, fantastical metaphors, and fierce takes coming to cable.
While Trixie and Katya were sent home well before the finale of Drag Race Season 7, the life-sized Dolly Parton Barbie and self-proclaimed high class Russian whore have become breakout stars on YouTube thanks to their undeniable chemistry and corset-bustingly hilarious repartee. Real talk: a channel named after vice is the perfect home for The Trixie & Katya Show, as these are two queens that love digging their manicured hands into the filth of the human experience–and also play with Sky Dancers! Seriously, if you watch one episode of UNHhhh, let Trixie Mattel take you on what Katya calls the “Homer’s Odyssey of bad hookups.”
Fans hungry for a taste of the bigger and longer UNHhhh made sure to hit up RuPaul’s DragCon last weekend. With Katya unable to attend, Trixie “I’m the person who’s here at DragCon speaking about this project because I actually give a fuck” Mattel talked up The Trixie & Katya Show during an early Sunday morning panel, revealing that it’s going to build upon the UNHhhh foundation by incorporating interviews with experts on the topics being discussed as well as sketches and bits out of drag. Following the panel Trixie gave Decider a one-on-one convo about pitching the show, what to expect from this new series, and whether or not she’d want to come wig to wig, eyelash to eyelash, and blush to blush with Dolly herself.
What was the pitch going into Viceland, shopping the series around?
I think with a lot of TV shows you go around pitching an idea, but with our series, we had 50 plus prototype YouTube episodes of how we could make basically anything funny. We talk about jobs, relationships, sex, death, life, anything–we can make it funny. So when it came time to talk to Viceland about it, they watched the episodes and it was like, resounding yes. They were like, “We love it, you guys are so funny.”
Wow! Did that reaction surprise you at all?
You know, to be drag queens with an offbeat sense of humor and to be received so positively, we were so happy.
Did they have any weird notes? Did you have to explain anything about drag or your sense of humor to Viceland to get them fully on board with your vision?
No, they really trust us. I mean, ten years ago a drag queen approached a TV network about a show and it happened, RuPaul’s Drag Race. When you have a great idea and you’re passionate about it–and, like I said, we had a library of episodes of proof that we can make anything funny. The [network] was really into it.
What are you most excited for people to see on The Trixie & Katya Show? Are there any segments that you want to tease for your fans?
In the YouTube series, you kinda see us basically do stream of consciousness kinda improv comedy for seven minutes. But now we’ve got twenty-two minutes. We do stuff out of drag, we do sketch comedy, we do green screen, we got guests, we do whatever.
What is your relationship with Katya when you’re in front of a camera but out of drag? That’s a dynamic we haven’t seen much of since your days on Drag Race Season 7. Is it a different vibe?
Out of drag, she’ll chain-smoke and I sit next to her and play my guitar, and we can do that for weeks at a time. And we kind of talk, talk about guys, talk about life. We so rarely get to be together, so our YouTube series–part of why it’s magical is because it’s always a reunion. We get together pretty much only to film, so we are so excited to see each other on camera.
Is doing this full-length Viceland show going to start testing that excitement? Are y’all gonna see too much of each other now?
Well I mean, she’s been dead to me for a while, but I need to use her celebrity. So…!
You obviously love Dolly Parton (I’m from Tennessee, so I feel you). Have you thought about using your increased celebrity to arrange a meet and greet?
You know, there are some people you don’t want to meet because you wouldn’t be composed when it happened. And what would happen? I would walk in and I would go limp… and she’d be like, “Is that young crossdresser okay?” And the answer is no.
The Trixie & Katya Show premieres on Viceland on November 15
