Rhys Nicholson on their UK tour and the Backstreet Boy who visited the Drag Race Down Under set
Exclusive: "We just filmed a third season," says Rhys, teasing details of Drag Race Down Under SE3, adding: "It'll be out later in the year"
Comedian Rhys Nicholson is about to conquer the UK with their aptly named Rhys, Rhys, Rhys tour, and we’re pretty surprised it’s taken this long.
The Australian comic has had quite a hectic couple of years, to say the least, and we’ve got lots to talk about. Rhys joined the panel of Drag Race Down Under alongside RuPaul and Michelle Visage back in 2021, and quickly teased more TV work on the way. Their upcoming tour comes off the back of a sell-out 2022 run at the Edinburgh Fringe, and winner of Most Outstanding Show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2022
They also came out as non-binary last year after “always veering in and out of the spectrum.” Rhys speaks with zeal about getting to grips with their new identity at the age of 32, and at seeing young queer comics rising through the ranks at the comedy club they own with fiancé Kyran Wheatley.
“I get to sit in the room and watch lip syncs for your lives and it’s never not lost on me” – Rhys Nicholson
Chatting from Melbourne, with a nine hour time difference, they’re so full of energy despite my slight morning slump and we soon get into it, even after a couple of tech issues.
You’re coming to the UK in June on your debut tour! Have you spent much time here and what are you most excited for?
Quite a lot. Since 2014, I’ve spent between a month and three to four months there every year, off and on. Usually I’d come and do Edinburgh [Fringe] and then hang out in London for a while. There was a time where for three years in a row I would just sleep in Phil Wang’s spare room. There’s this great, weird little community over there. It’s lucky to me that a whole bunch of the comedians that used to come over to the Melbourne Comedy Festival turned out to be some of the biggest comedians in the country now.
So what can we expect?
The show I’m doing in the UK, is the show I toured here last year. There’s no way to say it without saying it went well enough. I was like, ‘I reckon I could just keep doing this and I don’t need to write a whole new hour.’ The show is changing a little tiny bit as I go along. I’d lose my mind otherwise. I’m doing a few shows in Australia, instead of doing a month in Melbourne Comedy Festival, I’m doing four big shows around the place, because it is easier.
Would you ever want to move here yourself?
The dream is to live [in London]! My partner and I were getting ready to move in 2019 and then a bit of a flu started to go around. I don’t know if that hit you guys?
The plan is to still move over there. We love it in the UK, but it’s just about where the work is at.
We’ve been loving you as a judge on Drag Race Down Under! Are you back for more for season 3?
Yes! It was wild. We just filmed a third season. I don’t know when it’s coming out. I think I can say that. It’ll be out later in the year. It’s wild, [season three] has been in the works for a long time.
Okay, but what was it like to get such a fun gig in the first place?
When I was a much lesser comedian, about five, six years ago, a production company sniffing around a lot of queer comics asking: ‘Who would be interested? Anyone? And what even is this?’ Then nothing really happened from it. For season one, my agent called me and said: ‘You’re on the long list.’ That’s such a weird thing to tell someone, I just want to know if I’ve got it, not if it’s between me and… Hugh Jackman.
After weeks had gone by and hadn’t heard anything, we just thought: ‘Well, that’s gone away.’ Which happens all the time with gigs. Then on a Sunday morning before 9am I got a call, which is never good. [My agent] just said: ‘He chose you out!’ of context. I was like: ‘What do you mean, what are you talking about? She was crying a little bit and she went: ‘RuPaul, he chose you specifically!’ Three weeks later, we started filming, and it was wild.
How long does it take to film, and what are Ru and Michelle really like on and off set?
We film for about three to four weeks, where I just live in a whole different world. I go to New Zealand and I sit in a studio and every day I sit next to RuPaul and Michelle. Michelle and I are pretty close buddies now, we’re pretty constantly texting each other.
Ru and I, we’re work friends. I’m not going to call Ru in the middle of the night. But he’s incredible, he’s my boss! It’s never not lost on me how wild it is, he’s amazing. He delivers on what you want RuPaul to be. What people don’t realise about him is how f*****g funny he is. He makes me howl laughing and there’s nothing more satisfying than making him properly laugh.
What can you tease about season 3? We want to know everything.
This year, because it’s not pandemic times, we got proper guests on the show. I got to sit next to some pretty insane people. This weird thing happened a few weeks ago, we were filming and The Backstreet Boys were touring Auckland. I’m pointing out this person is not one of the guests on the show, but AJ from The Backstreet Boys, just turned up to set just to say hi to everyone?! There was another guest there that I won’t name that is on the show. This was a very famous person, that was quite strange for me, then AJ turned up and on the other side of me was Ru Paul, and they were all talking.
At one point, they were talking about the Great Barrier Reef. I said, ‘Oh, it’s really far away.’ One of them just said, ‘Oh, you can get a Chopper [helicopter]’. They all started talking about the Choppers they’ve been on, and I was also there? Ru’s just very funny. There’s this idea people have of Ru that is not real, that Ru is stoic, serious, the mother of drag queens type of thing. But she’s so funny. We would get a lift home together back to our hotels and Ru’s just very smart and funny. Terrifyingly smart, in a stressful way.
I know you’re really into drag too, but I read that you took your old podcast down. Why was that?
Yeah, we quietly took the podcast down out of fear… I was worried, I hope I didn’t say anything bad on that podcast when I was drunk. [Drag Race] is my favourite job to do all year, apart from touring the UK! I love drag, it’s something I’m really passionate about. I was talking to someone earlier about Lily Savage, with Paul O’Grady passing away, there’s this incredible clip of Myra Dubois at the Vauxhall Tavern, giving a tribute to Lily and you realise just how you realise how f***ing important drag queens are to our community.
There’s this idea, horrible American stuff aside, we take them for granted as artists. I get to see it and get paid money to sit and watch the best performers from around my part of the world do their best. I get to sit in the room and watch lip syncs for your lives and it’s never not lost on me.
You can buy tickets for Rhys’ debut UK tour here, which kicks off in June.