‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Contestant Katya Admits to Meth Relapse

RuPaul’s Drag Race personality Katya Zamolodchikova admitted she secretly checked into rehab during her hiatus from drag in earlier this year.

On the first episode of Whimsically Volatile, her new podcast alongside film director Craig MacNeil, Katya — whose real name is Brian McCook — said she suffered a terrifying relapse with meth and other drugs.

The addiction became so severe that she suffered a “complete and total psychotic break from reality,” she said. The reality TV favorite added that she experienced “hallucinations, visions [and] auditory hallucinations that took place in the form of God.”

“I could not tell what was real, and what was not real,” the 35-year-old confessed.

When she was kicked out of her home following her return to drugs and a friend nearly filed a restraining order, Katya said she hit “rock bottom.”

Katya announced in January that she would be taking a hiatus from drag and fans worried that she may have relapsed; she was open about her struggle with drug addiction during her season of Drag Race in 2015, but said she was one year sober at the time.

As it turns out, fans were correct.

“They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, ‘Fine, fine fine,’” she joked, referencing the late Amy Winehouse’s hit. “My dad said, ‘You do what’s right for you,’ and my mom said, ‘You better do it, b—!’”

She checked into rehab at the Serenity Care Center in Surprise, Arizona after writing a goodbye message to fans on social media.

“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,” the personality wrote.

Nearly two months later on March 17, Katya returned to social media with a Catwoman GIF, writing, “The B— is Back.”

While it is still unknown when Katya will return to the stage, the celebrated queen tweeted on Monday that she would be retitling her stage show, “Help Me, I’m Dying” to something more positive, “mostly due to the face that I am no longer dying.”

After her run on Drag Race in 2015, Katya went on to star on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2016, and continues to co-host Viceland’s The Trixie & Katya Show with fellow Drag Race icon Trixie Mattell.

Photo Credit: Instagram / @katya_zamo