Rhys Nicholson, stand-up comedian and RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under judge, still remembers the first time they watched The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert — at the age of six.
The iconic 1994 Australian comedy stars Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce as two drag queens, and Terence Stamp as a transgender woman, following their epic road trip in a tour bus called Priscilla.
Nicholson watched the movie with their mother: "She fast-forwarded through the rude bits, but because it was on VHS it meant I still saw it all, just faster."
It blew their tiny mind.
"I remember saying to my mum, 'What is happening?' Because in the movie, they're men and then they're women and then they're men and then they're women again … I wanted to know, 'What's going on there?'"
Their mother explained they were drag queens — and something clicked.
"From that day on, until I was about 10, if I was at a dinner party and someone asked me, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' I would always say, 'A drag queen!' — to the dead silence of many different parties," Nicholson recalls.
Nicholson came out as non-binary in 2022 and now uses he/they pronouns. "That writing was clearly on the wall," Nicholson reflects – and it made them remember their reaction to The Adventures of Priscilla.
"I saw something in it and thought: 'Are they men and women? Whatever that is, that seems right.'"
No filters
As a judge on Drag Race Down Under, Nicholson's appreciation of drag has been taken to a whole new level.
Sitting next to RuPaul – one of the most famous drag queens in the world – and Drag Race veteran Michelle Visage, they bring all the enthusiasm of a longtime fan of the show.
"As the episodes came out one after the other last year, people would tell me it's almost like I'm having some sort of manic episode, but I always think: 'Why wouldn't you?' The show is so joyful.
"I get to watch the queens do their best, so what would be the point of pretending to be cool? I'm a stand-up comedian – comedy doesn't come from a place of like, 'Oh, we're cool!' We basically all get into comedy so we can lose our virginity."
Starting out on Drag Race, Nicholson was thrown into the deep end: "I just had to go in and begin. First of all, I was expecting there to be writers — and it turns out that no [there aren't any]," Nicholson told ABC RN's Stop Everything!
"I was just so terrified. In the first season, part of the reason I say so many wacky things is because there's no filter."
Nicholson said they were so nervous at the beginning that "it took me three weeks to [fully] realise that I was sitting next to Ru, even though he is the most warm, really interested person".
They are aware the rumour mill suggests RuPaul can be inaccessible, even to his co-hosts.
"I think what people confuse from Ru as coldness, or distance, is just someone being a professional person on a film set, who's focusing on what they're doing," says Nicholson.
Even with the constraints of filming during the pandemic, they have stories of reviewing RuPaul's ever-growing collection of perfumes bought at local chemists, and even getting a tattoo with Visage.
Their obsession with RuPaul was undimmed by proximity.
"I think Ru does have this unstoppable [quality]. You can't put your finger on it, this star-power thing that he has. He is a 62-year-old man that plays a convincing 22-year-old woman. How do you do that?"
Season one controversies
Nicholson watched as RuPaul navigated some tricky moments in Drag Race Down Under's first season, particularly in how he responded to revelations that Anthony Price, known for his drag persona Scarlet Adams, had performed in blackface multiple times.
Adams apologised profusely on stage – but some viewers questioned if she should have been given a platform like this in the first place.
RuPaul chose to be forgiving, but Nicholson doesn't really want to talk about Adams because they think the situation was "so grim".
"She remained in the competition. And that put me – as a judge – in an interesting position, where every week I'm having to be like, 'Well, this looks great, but also, I don't agree with a lot of your politics and things that you've done, and I'm finding it hard not to critique you while also critiquing your lovely gown.'"
The show was also marred by a lack of diversity, with the early-season exit of First Nations and POC contestants leaving an all-white line-up.
First Nations queen Jojo Zaho was ousted in the first week, and Coco Jumbo, a Polynesian queen of Fijian descent, soon followed; meanwhile, drag queen Art Simone was eliminated but then swiftly brought back – without any explanation from the producers.
Nicholson admits that there were "myriad issues" with the first season.
They believe casting was the biggest problem, and that there should have been an open call.
"I wish I could have been more vocal about it, and I get really nervous because I also don't want to do more harm. But I would say that it was a huge conversation, in bringing together season two, of making sure that nothing like that even came close to happening."
Going forward, they hope the second season will celebrate what makes drag culture in Australia and New Zealand so distinctive.
"There are some queens this year that are wild … it is very character-driven. It's not about doing a perfect lip-sync to a Beyoncé number. It's not about getting the choreography exactly right. It's about being genuine.
"There are some challenges this year that deliver performances from the queens that are what you would see at 2 o'clock in the morning at the [Sydney queer nightclub formerly known as] Midnight Shift. It's a real thrill this year."
Living a life that's drag-adjacent
Though they don't change outfits as often as the contestants, Nicholson's look on Drag Race and in their stand-up shows is distinctive — an approach to style they describes as "drag-adjacent".
They first chose to wear make-up because they had bad skin; they dyed their hair red so they could be memorable on stage. The suit and tie were based on the same principle – they set them apart. Success – and more money – have meant they have been able to refine the look.
"I would never say that I do drag – I have too much respect for the art form to say that – but it is the way that Ru always says, 'We're all born naked, and the rest is drag,'" says Nicholson.
"There is a kind of kind of strength, I guess 'armour' is the word … My partner always says I walk very differently when I'm in a suit."
That armour has been essential in part because Nicholson's stand-up comedy is often explicit and raw, revealing intimate details about their life.
Stand-up therapy
In 2013, Nicholson discussed their eating disorder and struggle with anxiety on SBS show The Feed.
"Let's not dig into the irony – talking about my eating disorder on a show called The Feed — but I made that joke. We can laugh at it," they say with hindsight.
"I reckon I've watched that video [The Feed interview] once since it came out. It's not distressing – I'm glad it's there. I'm glad it exists. But it is like looking at this footage of me clearly not having dealt with something, talking about it as if I've dealt with something. Being like, 'Well, I'm glad the war is over!' while there are explosions in the background."
They say they had a similar experience with their Netflix special Rhys Nicholson Live at the Athenaeum and in Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!, which won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award for Most Outstanding Show in 2022.
In these shows they unpack gender labels and being non-binary — while they are still processing parts of their experience.
But Nicholson says it doesn't feel as fraught this time around, compared to discussing their eating disorder, and that they are coming to it from a place of feeling acceptance from family and friends.
At 32, they are also discovering what it means to belong to a whole new community.
"I've been talking about [being non-binary] on stage a lot and … allowing myself to be clumsy about it, because I also want people to be able to see someone working it out," they say.
"Without being a complete douche, I hope that by talking about it I am able to create some sort of relief for people struggling with the same thing."
New adventures
Nicholson often relies on their partner, broadcaster Kyran Wheatley, who serves as a producer on their stand-up shows, to hone their narrative: "I can write jokes till the cows come home, but I'm not very good at looking at the show as a whole, if that makes sense," they say.
Now the duo have extended that working partnership with the Melbourne venue Comedy Republic, which they co-founded in 2020 with comedian and broadcaster Alex Dyson.
Their vision was simple: to create a space for comedians designed by comedians.
They metaphorically threw open the doors during lockdown, with a series of live streamed events and sporadic live shows. This year, they have been able to host live comedy more regularly, as well as their Replay Festival, a line-up of some of the best acts from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Simultaneously, Rhys has been working on a new book incorporating essays and recipes, and will be playing an evil scientist in the new Netflix show The Imperfects, out later this year.
"I went from filming season one of Drag Race, which is a very particular part of my brain, to going straight to Canada to film The Imperfects; from telling drag queens that they need to step their pussies up, to suddenly holding a gun and running away from explosions in the Canadian wilderness."
Nicholson isn't interested in playing this cool, either.
"It was a dream come true. I was in a show that had proper action, and there's CGI in it. I had a stunt double! He was 10 years younger than me, and he didn't look anything like me. He was a good half-a-foot taller, but no one cares. I had a stunt double!"
Empathy and comedy
The stunt double was the cherry on top of a "bonanza year", says Nicholson, admitting that it's also brought tough moments. There have been days when their partner came home to find the bathroom freshly cleaned and a roast in the oven – two red flags for Nicholson's anxiety.
But Nicholson is determined to keep doing work they love. Through their comedy, and shows such as Drag Race, they are aiming not just for laughs but to create moments where people end up relating to someone they didn't realise they had anything in common with.
"One of my favourite things is watching the boyfriends that girls have brought to my shows with their arms crossed defensively, and slowly over the course of the show, they are uncrossing their arms — and I'm like 'Ha! I got you!'
"[And] I think [Drag Race] has opened us up as a community to a broader audience. And once we're entertaining them, they're accepting us. I think that's the great thing."
Season two of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under airs on Stan from July 30.
