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UNHhhh
Just in 2020 alone, Trixie Mattel and Katya have saved the world and admitted that they like to watch—and now they’re back to talk about whatever they want, because it’s their show and not yours. That show is, duh, UNHhhh, the freewheeling webseries that goes where few chat shows dare—namely a gutter overflowing with Bonnie Hunt VHS tapes and a shameful amount of homemade memorabilia from the 1997 Jodie Foster film Contact.
Trixie and Katya kicked off 2020 with a stretch of hot, new UNHhhh episodes, but then the world, uh, shut down. After getting into the remote recording gig for the 12-part Trixie and Katya Save the World series on WOW Presents Plus, it’s time to get back into UNHhhh mode. New episodes from the show’s fifth season will debut on WOW Presents Plus starting on August 5th (peep the exclusive trailer reveal above, mama!).
To tout the series’ return to streaming, UNHhhh stars and legit legends Trixie Mattel and Katya spoke with Decider about getting back into the studio (socially-distanced, of course), Canada’s Drag Race, and the one particular Glow Up model that fully changed their lives.
Decider: What was it like going back into the studio for more episodes of UNHhhh?
Trixie Mattel: At the risk of being terminated by World of Wonder, I just want to say this: a lot of these were pre-recorded since way before lockdown. Because [production] got slowed down, none of [these episodes] could be put out until we really get deeper into the season. It’s been a bummer. How many do you think we have already done before lockdown even started? Probably like six, Katya?
Katya: Something like that. Something like that.
Trixie: So we’re as excited as you are, because there’s been a bunch of them where we’re like—we’re waiting to see them too.
Katya: Totally.
Trixie: Get this: we started filming again, but now we film—there’s multiple cameras and we film further apart on the green screen so it’s totally socially distant. And then—
Katya: No touching. No touching.
That’s what I was going to ask—what does a socially distant UNHhhh look like? Because one of the fun things is Katya excitedly grabbing Trixie.
Trixie: It’s great for me.
Katya: I’m just clawing for thin air and falling off the chair.
Trixie: I smell less. I don’t have to smell as much, I don’t have to see as much. Also, [Katya] really is hot. So being further away from her is like being away from a kerosene heater.
During the break, y’all filmed Trixie and Katya Save the World for WOW Presents Plus remotely. Did that time apart and only working via video chat affect the dynamic when you got back into the studio? Were y’all happy to see each other face to face again?
Katya: I was very happy to be in the studio, because I do not like filming from home. It’s hard to be excited, and it’s hard to be spontaneous because there’s a lag with the video. You have to wait to react. It’s just not so organic, so I really like being there. I mean, I’ll do 60 feet away. I have really good vision. I don’t care, as long as we’re in the same room.
Trixie: I already have interrupting issues. So when it’s a Zoom situation—also, I guess I’m happy we got to do it remotely, but it’s the difference between flicking your bean and having true intercourse. You know what I mean?
Katya: Yes, yes. Totally. Going into the studio socially distanced was full, penetrative sexual congress, metaphorically speaking.
This time around, you’re taking viewer-submitted questions as part of UNHhhh. That was part of Trixie and Katya Save the World, and y’all also have an advice book out, Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood. Is this all part of your plan to conquer the world of advice?
Katya: Yeah, I think so.
Trixie: I think it’s also just us acknowledging how much people lean into us for guidance, no matter how much we discourage it.
Katya: Which is really a testament to the fragile state of our fans and the world at large. [Laughs]
Trixie: Think of us. Think of us. In some ways, two of the worst people. These people think that we have it more together than them. How truly gutted, helpless our fanbase is.
Katya: If anybody’s coming to me as a source of wisdom, that’s when you know the world is truly on its last legs.
Trixie: “I’m not sure what to do. You know who’d know exactly what to do? Katya.” When those words come out of your mouth—
Katya: Mary, you’re fucked.
Trixie: There’s holes in the bottom of your boat, bitch.
In addition to UNHhhh, you also did Trixie and Katya Save the World, you have I Like to Watch over at Netflix—is there a specific UNHhhh vibe that differentiates it from your other shows?
Trixie: We both like to look good, if we can. So we like nice lights. I think we perform best when we look good and we feel like we’re being lit well.
Katya: Yes, yeah. Because there’s a very important kind of spark at the beginning when we both sit down and each individually say, “Oh my god.”
Trixie: [Laughs]
And that makes it into the episodes, plenty of times!
Katya: The first 15 minutes that you don’t see is Trixie saying, “How could anyone ever…?” Literally. Literally. And then struggle to maintain eye contact with the camera or each other, because we’re just caught in the mirror feeling up ourselves.
Trixie: Yeah. We really do. There’s a certain amount of—I always tell people it sort of recharges your batteries constantly, when you’re tethered to a mirror and good lighting when you’re a drag queen. Because you feel like the star that you’re trying to be. You believe it. And then also, of course, when you feel great, you feel a little more confident. Therefore, you say things that are more gutted. I think we are just a little ballsier with some of the things we say. Our tangents will be deeper and darker and grosser. Not that we’re trying to gross each other out, but that’s definitely a big part of it.
Katya: Even though we have a topic on UNHhhh, with the Netflix show, we’re talking about a specific movie or series or something. We don’t really have the license to go talk about genital warts or whatever.
I’ve watched the Glow Up episode of I Like to Watch maybe a dozen times. I have to ask—has that one particular model gotten in touch with y’all now that you’ve made him into a meme?
Trixie: No! I don’t even know who it is!
Katya: [Laughing] We don’t even know who it is! No idea who it is.
Trixie: There’s literally a framed picture of him in my house. He hasn’t gotten in touch with us. I wish he would. But also, we can’t stop saying—
Both: Ding! Dong!
Trixie: —something that [Glow Up judge] Val Garland says in that show.
Both: [Laughing]
Trixie: You know what’s funny, I recently watched that episode too. It’s funny watching it, because we work for Netflix. We’re just sitting there shitting on the quality of the makeup application in the show. Honestly, we’ve been at World of Wonder for so long, where there is a certain amount of trust. We have to be pretty gutted for them to step in and say, “You can’t say that.” They’ll just edit out things we can’t say.
Katya: Yeah, no. We don’t censor ourselves at all [on UNHhhh].
Trixie: If you think what’s in the show is sensitive, you should hear the things that get edited out of UNHhhh.
Katya: Not only, forget cancellation—we’d probably be tried at The Hague for war crimes.
WOW Presents Plus has so many great docuseries like Werq the World and Alyssa Raw. Are there any other queens that you would really like to see get their own WOW docuseries?
Katya: Probably Jimbo on Canada[‘s Drag Race].
Trixie: Yeah, Jimbo for sure. We love Jimbo. I’d watch Kennedy [Davenport] do anything.
Katya: I would love to watch Baga Chipz in a show just called “The Walk of Shame.” That bitch loves to party. I went on tour with her. Every morning, her walk from the hotel to the bus was legendary. It looks like she just got the shit beat out of her. She would be hobbling. She’d light up a cigarette and be like, [Baga Chipz accent] “Hello. How are you?” [Laughs] She would be so, so fantastic.
Are y’all enjoying Canada’s Drag Race?
Katya: Yeah.
Trixie: I’m a little behind, but I do love it. It has something that the American one—not to be, you know, but I think the American one, sometimes, compared to the Canada one so far, eats its own tail a little bit. The Canada one really feels like [RuPaul’s Drag Race] UK, where it’s fresh. They don’t really care as much about producing their storyline or cheating out to the camera. Do you know what I mean? You know how in America, they’re like “I’m really cute and I’m here to slay!” Whereas the UK, they’re like, “Hey, I’m a fucking proper slag!” They just don’t care. Canada’s Drag Race has a little more of that energy, where it’s such a small world. You can tell that they all love and hate each other. The frenemy energy in the room is so lit. Also, an elephant in the room: Brooke Lynn Hytes is their fucking colleague! Their peer.
Katya: Yeah.
Trixie: So that adds something to judging that doesn’t exist in America, because RuPaul is not your fucking peer.
Katya: Right.
Trixie: In Canada, we are acting like Brooke Lynn is RuPaul, but Brooke Lynn used to probably do $50 bookings with these girls too. So it does change the dynamic to have somebody who’s your peer giving you feedback. These girls aren’t so scared. They’re having a good time. I feel like they’re having more fun. The last episode I saw was when Kyne went home. I was like, “This doesn’t feel that bad? Kyne didn’t do that bad of a job.” It’s like The Great British Bake-Off energy of drag race. “You did a great job!”
Back to UNHhhh—are there any specific upcoming topics that you can tease that you’re particularly excited for people to see?
Katya: There is one—we watched highlights of [RuPaul’s Drag Race] Season 7. I remember being really excited to do that, and then when we did it, it was horrible.
Trixie: Yeah, it was so triggering.
Katya: It was so traumatic.
Trixie: On my YouTube, we did a runway review of my runways from Season 7, and that was triggering. But what we did at World of Wonder is like, we watched iconic moments from Season 7. We really dived into the flora and fauna of our interviews. It’s both shocking to see how old and disgusting you’ve gotten based on your looks, seeing yourself five years ago. But also, it’s encouraging to know that even though you were younger, you were still disgusting.
Katya: Yeah. It was like, I looked at myself—the glow up and the glow down is like, a glow up in drag and a melt-down out of drag.
Trixie: Yes, yes, yes!
Katya: Which is really, really encouraging and discouraging at the same time. It just cancels out. Like, “Oh, I look so young!” And then I look in the mirror out of drag and I’m like, “Who the fuck is that grandfather?”
Trixie: I’d be out of drag and be like, “I was a cute little hot-shit.” Nope. I was like, “This is supposed to be your prime, and you look like someone’s fucking uncle.”
Lastly—what are y’all bingeing and streaming right now?
Katya: I’ve watched The Old Guard three times now. It’s on Netflix. The new Charlize Theron immortal assassin movie. I’m obsessed. I thought it was a series, so I think that’s why I just keep watching it. It’s just one movie, but I want this to be a series, so I just keep watching over and over. It’s fantastic.
Trixie: Like the plot’s going to change.
Katya: No, I swear to god. It ends on a cliffhanger, so I’m like, “Oh, okay! Episode 2.” And it’s just the movie again. I just keep watching it.
Trixie: I don’t watch a lot of TV, but during lockdown I did watch A Very Brady Renovation where HGTV bought the Brady Bunch house and the Brady Bunch cast came and renovated it. To me, because I rewatched The Brady Bunch—and if you want to know how white I am, I am woke, but I am so white that I rewatched The Office in its entirety twice. And that’s on periodt.
UNHhhh Season 5 returns to WOW Presents Plus with new episodes on August 5
