Katya

“I need to take some personal time for my mental health to heal and recover.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race star – and GT cover model – Katya announced on Tuesday that she will be taking a break from drag, due to mental health issues.

The season seven contestant and All Stars 2 finalist – real name Brian McCook – addressed fans in a video spoken entirely in French, telling fans: “It was time to take a vacation, because my health, the drugs, my brain, that wasn’t good.”

She continued: “But I am not crazy, you understand of course. I’m a language student first, an artist second, a drag queen third. Health is the most important thing for me.”

Yesterday, New Alex Theatre announced that the drag star’s UK tour – An Evening With Katya Zamolodchikova: Help Me, I’m Dying – has officially been postponed until 2019.

Following the announcement, Katya shared a heartfelt message on her Twitter account: “Hi, my name is not Katya. I am Brian, a recovering drug addict and workaholic. I need to take some personal time for my mental health to heal and recover. All of my tours and shows will be postponed until 2019.

“Local venues will provide an update over the next several weeks. I love you all, and love is more powerful than money. And because this is “online” I have to tell a joke so you know I’m serious: I still hate Taylor Swift. Peace be with you.”

We’re all wishing you a speedy recovery Katya, and we applaud you for being so honest and open.

https://twitter.com/katya_zamo/status/953789143363891200

Katya and Trixie Mattel – the funniest duo in RuPaul’s Drag Race herstory – appeared on the cover of our January issue and spilt the T, telling Gay Times that the core purpose of drag has been lost on the show’s younger audience.

“I think everybody should like drag, but not everybody should do it. In some ways, the popularisation of drag has made it look like the point of it is getting attention and so I think there’s a huge surge in this industry. But, maybe a lot of people are doing it for not the right reasons,” Trixie told us.

Katya added: “People are not having fun with it anymore which is very strange. And also, people are thinking it’s some legit profession like being a docent at a museum. People are confusing it for a legitimate career path which it absolutely isn’t.”

Read our full interview with Katya and Trixie in our latest issue now at buy.gaytimes.co.uk

Get your hands on our latest issue now at buy.gaytimes.co.uk