TV Talk: Local queen competes on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

Nicholas Fry, 23, grew up in Greensburg, graduated from Hempfield Area High School in 2019, then studied film at Point Park University, graduating in 2023.

Now he’s competing in Season 17 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as his drag alter ego, Lydia B. Kollins, for a cash prize of $200,000. “Drag Race” airs 8-9:30 p.m. Fridays beginning Jan. 3 on MTV; “Untucked,” an after-show that goes behind the scenes of each episode, airs at 9:30 p.m. Fridays beginning this week.

“I started doing drag because of ‘Drag Race,’” Fry said. “I started very young, at 15, behind the closed door in my bedroom.”

Fry posted drag looks online beginning in 2016, “these sick little creations I’d work on in the middle of the night and take pictures of.”

Drag started “to leak out of my bedroom,” Fry said, when he was asked to perform in drag at a Pride event at Nemacolin Woodlands in 2021.

“Those were my first gigs ever,” Fry said. “I think they found me online.”

Fry, a former Duquesne Club server (“Now I just serve,” Fry said cheekily), first applied for “Drag Race” when he was 19. That one didn’t go anywhere, but then he tried again and got selected for Season 17.

Fry now lives in Greenfield and performs as Lydia B. Kollins at P*Town Bar in North Oakland and Blue Moon in Lawrenceville. Fry cites Lydia Deetz, the Winona Ryder character in “Beetlejuice,” as an inspiration for his drag persona along with the films of Tim Burton, John Waters and David Lynch.

“She is just a grungy, alternative, one-stop shop for drag craftsmanship,” Fry said of Lydia B. Kollins. “She has a very eerie, gothic but glam style. She’s vampy. She loves to dig through the trash and put anything on her head she can possibly find. … I am a very happy-go-lucky type of person. I’m so excited for this entire journey and I’m constantly smiling, and Lydia seems like she’d be in a dark, dark room by herself writing in a book all day. She’s not like me at all; she’s a mask.”

Fry is the first Pittsburgher to make it onto “Drag Race” since Alaska (former Pittsburgher Justin Andrew Honard) in 2013.

“My biggest worry going onto the show was that my take on drag wouldn’t be received as well as the high-polished, high-glamour type of drag,” said Fry, who makes Lydia’s wardrobe himself. “I am not only showing the seams, but I am celebrating the seams and showing the hot glue strings and all of the unfinished, beautiful, raw aspects of drag.”

Fry said getting stuck in his own head was the biggest challenge once he went to film the show, but he loved meeting the other contestants.

“The sisterhood is so strong,” Fry said. “No child left behind on Season 17. It was wonderful getting to know all of these queens, getting to see all of their talents.”

Another Season 17 contestant, Luis “Arrietty” Luviano of Seattle, called Lydia “a lovely artistic being. She is a crazy mammal, that’s for sure. Her eye for drag is just so different than mine. I do appreciate her craft so much because you can tell that is her. She’s not faking. She is herself and I love that. It’s inspiring.”

In Lydia’s “Meet the Queens” video, Lydia says, “Pittsburgh is full of grimy little freaks, artsy kids, the weirdos, just the most disgusting people in the world - and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Fry said the darkness and creativity are celebrated in Pittsburgh’s drag scene more than perfection.

“It’s just the most creatively invigorating people all put together, making art together, on the stage,” Fry said.

Lydia will host a viewing party at 8 p.m. Jan. 3 at 5801 Video Lounge Bar in Shadyside followed at 11 that night with a drag show at P*Town.

“Just know that Lydia Kollins has a lot of surprises up her tight little sleeve,” Fry said, “and she cannot wait to share them with Pittsburgh and the world.”

Christmas Steelers ratings

Initial Nielsen ratings showed around 24.1 million American viewers tuned in for Netflix’s Steelers-Chiefs game and 24.3 million watched the Ravens-Texans game, on par with what similar games would average on NBC, CBS or Fox, per Variety. Viewership peaked during the Beyoncé halftime show during the Ravens-Texans game at 27 million viewers.

Updated numbers that Netflix attributed to Nielsen this week found both games averaged 26.5 million U.S. viewers, contributing to Netflix’s most-watched Christmas Day ever in the U.S.

Globally, Netflix says viewers from 218 countries tuned in to Netflix with the Steelers-Chiefs drawing 30 million viewers globally and the Ravens-Texans attracting 31.3 million.

Netflix says the Steelers-Chiefs game was in its daily Top 10 in 72 countries with high viewership in Canada, Germany, Ireland and the U.K., while Ravens-Texans was in Netflix’s daily Top 10 in 62 countries, hitting highs in Australia, Austria and Mexico.

WTAE newser to D.C.

Michael Solakian, assistant news director at WTAE-TV since 2021, will become WTAE parent company Hearst’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief effective Feb. 1.

Hearst’s D.C. bureau provides reports from the nation’s capital to Hearst-owned TV stations nationwide, including Pittsburgh’s Channel 4.

‘Watson,’ ‘Pitt’ anticipation

Both Pittsburgh-set medical dramas debuting this month landed on Whip Media’s anticipation report for upcoming TV/streaming series, but CBS’s Pittsburgh-set “Watson” (10 p.m. Jan. 26) came in higher at third (behind Disney+’s “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” and ABC’s new Tim Allen comedy “Shifting Gears”) while Max’s Pittsburgh-set “The Pitt” landed in the No. 5 spot behind Fox’s upcoming medical drama “Doc.”

Renewed

Hulu renewed “Tell Me Lies” for a third season.

Max will bring back “Dune: Prophecy” and animated adult series “Creature Commandos” for second seasons.

Hallmark+ renewed reality competition “Finding Mr. Christmas” for a second season to stream in 2025.

Channel surfing

Neil Cavuto declined a contract renewal, per Variety, and exited Fox News Channel last month after 28 years on the network. … Dan Abrams will exit his 9 p.m. NewsNation show in February. … Broadway musical “Suffs” was filmed for a future airing on PBS’s “Great Performances.” … The first-season finale of Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto’s “Brilliant Minds” will air 9-10 p.m. Jan. 6. The show has not yet been renewed for a second season. … The original 1980s miniseries “V,” about invading lizards from outer space, will get a modernized, Britain-set audio-only update with new actors performing from a script based on Kenneth Johnson’s original 1980s “V” screenplay. “V: UK” releases as an audiobook CD and as a digital download in two parts (Part 1 is out Jan. 23; Part 2 TBD later this year) from Big Finish Productions.