RuPaul's Drag Race Star Katya Reveals the ‘Disgusting’ Behavior That Is an Immediate Dating Turn-Off (Exclusive)

You can make fun of Katya Zamolodchikova’s wigs, insult her shoes or insult her makeup. However, you won’t say anything she hasn’t heard a thousand times from her best friend, singer Trixie Mattel.

But if you want her number, don’t laugh at her because she doesn’t have the latest iPhone.

Former RuPaul’s Drag Race star tells PEOPLE exclusively that “financial embarrassment” is an immediate turn-off for her; the only behavior she would banish from the dating world.

Katya, who hosts Grindr’s positive dating podcast, Who is A-hole?, he remembers experiencing this ultimate disease during a trip to Mexico City two years ago.

“I was in an elevator with four gay guys — three knew who I was, one didn’t,” she says. “The elevator opens and they leave. A person who didn’t know who I was came back and said, ‘Nice iPhone 6.’ And it’s so stupid, but it stuck with me for two years. I ask myself: ‘Is that really you?’ ”

Katya can shrug off the insult with a laugh, but it hits a nerve, dating behavior that is a no-no for her. She says, “First of all, it wasn’t an iPhone 6, but that doesn’t matter. That kind of financial snobbery when it comes to choosing a partner and flirting is so repulsive to me. It’s like, ‘You can’t fucking be poor, dear. It’s disgusting.’ Oh, grow up.”

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“I wish he was like, ‘Nice, bald head.’ Do something. Just some balls, because I’d laugh at it.”

Katya recently finished the second season of the series Who is the A–holewhich he says is “a dream come true. Not only do the drag superstars indulge their innate fascination with the world, but they can go on this expedition in comfortable clothes.

Fans watching the show on Grindr’s YouTube channel see Katya without power. “I feel like I can attract more attention [the guests]”, she says. “If I were in drag, it would be more about me, and that’s something else.”

Since the podcast launched in February, she’s explored the ins and outs of modern dating and explored the boundaries of what constitutes “a–hole” behavior, while also gasping over dating horror stories with guests like Saturday night live Bowen Yang, my friend Drag Race alum Gottmik, country star Orville Peck and singer Adam Lambert.

Katya interviewed Adam Lambert for ‘Who’s the A-hole?’.

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Katya tells PEOPLE that at first she wasn’t sure if she would get along with Adam. “I have a friend who is friends with him and she says he is very nice, but I didn’t think I would like him. [But] I fell in love with him in 12 seconds,” she says.

Considering she’s constantly touring with her “best friend,” fellow drag star and queer country artist Trixie Mattel, Katya understands that might sound weird. She admits that she “had some weird prejudices in my head, for some reason.”

Whatever it was, she got over it. “My God, Adam was so sweet,” she says.

Katya with one of her podcast guests, ‘Saturday Night Live’ star Bowen Yang.

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The podcast mainly focuses on dating, the stories of anonymous callers and her guests who have a lot to share. One great example: Bowen realized he was famous after Grindr banned him for “catfishing” because the app thought he was pretending to be SNL star.

Although the premise of the podcast was behavioral analysis, Katya says it helped her be less self-analytical—and that’s a good thing.

“I’ve always been hyper-aware, maybe too self-aware,” she says. “[Doing the podcast has] it allowed me to relax a bit and have a healthy sense of self-reflection and consideration for other people in the sexual arena. I feel like I’m developing, which is good.”

Katya, right, with her best friend, country artist Trixie Mattel.

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This evolution brings knowledge and Katja’s greatest knowledge about sex from practice Who is A-hole? is simple: “You can stop right in the middle and go home.”

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“My instinct was always to lie or fake an injury or do some dramatic little picture to get out of it,” she adds. “But yeah, you can just say, ‘You know what? I don’t want to do it anymore.’ And then walk out the door. Revelation.”

All episodes Grindr Presents: Who’s A–hole? with Katya it can be viewed on YouTube and streamed on Spotify.

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Source: HIS Education