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The phenomenon called RuPaul’s Drag Race is back with a new season of its spin-off RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. This reality show will bring the viewers the best of drag that Australia and New Zealand have to offer. The show will premiere on July 30, 2022.
This season, the show will feature 10 queens judged by Mama Ru herself, along with Mischelle Visage and Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson.
Rhys Nicholson is not unfamiliar with Drag Race, as they previously also appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season 1 as part of the judges' panel.
The Australian comedian is a loud and proud member and advocate of the LGBTQIA+ community and has been since they first emerged as a comic in 2012. Their preferred pronouns are he/they.
Ru Paul’s Drag Race Down Under, meet comedian Rhys Nicholson
RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under judge Rhys Nicholas is a multi-award-winning Australian stand-up comic, writer, and actor. The 32-year-old comic is from Newcastle and currently resides in Sydney.
They previously appeared on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, along with the famous Michele VIsage and RuPaul herself.
Nicholson is known for their witty personality and has been described as razor sharp, daring, and even downright lascivious. They are also known for their unrelenting and rapid-fire punchlines.
Over the past decade, this judge from RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under has gone on to become one of the most well-known comics in Australia and has also received love from all over the world. As a comic, they first received recognition in 2012, however in 2018, they started exploring the world of acting and debuted in the sketch comedy series Orange is the New Brown.
The former Hunter School of Performing Arts student would sneak into The Oriental Hotel in Coos Gills to perform at open mic comedy nights. They also competed in Raw Comedy three times before catching the eye of the owner who told them to get in touch if Nicholson ever relocates.
After moving to Sydney, Nicholson became a regular at the Sydney Comedy Club and went on to win the Time Out Award for Best Newcomer at the Sydney Comedy Festival in 2012.
In 2016, they were selected to perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, where they sold out their show and were nominated for the award for Best Show award. In 2018, they were nominated for an Aria Award for best Comedy Album, and won the New Zealand Comedy Festival Best Show award.
The judge from RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under was also nominated twice for the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Show.
In 2018, they also performed on the Comedy Central UK hit show Roast Battle and in 2019, Nicholson was one of the three handpicked opening acts for Conan O’Brien during his Australia tour.
Nicholson on the small screens
The RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under judge made their debut on US television as stand-up guests on the Conan O’Brien show in 2019. They also recorded their third standup special with Netflix, making them one of the only three Australians to have a solo show on the platform. This got them a nomination for Best Stand Up Comedy Special at the AACTA Awards in 2021.
Rhys Nicholson has been on numerous shows across networks and countries and was cast as a series regular in Netflix’s The Imperfects.
Advocate for LGBTQIA+ community
The RuPaul Drag Race Down Under judge is an active member and advocate for the LGBTQIA community. In 2016 to draw attention to the issue of marriage equality in Australia, they publicly married fellow queer comedian Zoe Coombs Marr at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
They have actively raised their voice about the issues faced by members of the community, and still do.
Being a voice of desent doesn’t come without threats and hostility, and in their case, blatant unapologetic homophobia. In 2018, using Facebook as a platform, they narrated an incident of homophobic abuse in Melbourne.
They wrote:
“Fun story. Last night someone told me they wanted to kill me.”
Nicholson spoke about how while traveling by train, four regular-looking, well dressed people walked in and subjected them to homophobic slurs and threats.
“When ol’ rose neck saw me he loudly said, "You can always spot a f****t on Melbourne hey’. I looked up and rolled my eyes. He continued ‘It’s looking at me. If it keeps looking at me, something’s going to happen [to] it’.
Then while leaving, one of the people said that the yes vote was allowing schools to teach young boys to indulge in romantic relationships with men.
They also went on to say that since homophobic behavior is so common, it barely phases them even though it should.
The 10 queens on RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under include Aubrey Haive, Beverly Kills, Faux Fur, Hannah Conda, Kween Kong, Minnie Cooper, Molly Poppinz, Pomara Fifth, Spankie Jackzon, and Yuri Guaii.
