For obvious reasons, most people just refer to this glamorous queen as 'Katya.' Her full adopted name is Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodochikova, which is a far cry from her birth name of Brian McCook. Perhaps she and Trixie Mattel bonded over their very plain original first names! She was already well-known in her native Boston before she appeared on RuPaul's show, where she'd been hosting her show 'Perestroika' at the local Jacques Cabaret club.
The inspiration for her stage name comes from her love of all things Russian - she happily describes herself as a 'Russophile,' and is fascinated by the whole country and its culture. 'The Trixie and Katya Show' elevated her to new levels of fame, but when she's not doing that, you can find her recording and broadcasting her popular podcast 'Whimsically Volatile.' She also has several movie credits to her name.