By Mikkel Hyldebrandt
As part of the second bracket of All Stars Season 10, another Atlanta legend will enter the world stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race. It has been 15 years since Nicole Paige Brooks was first on the show, and now she is back, true to form and ready to teach the other girls on the All Stars cast how to respond quickly and not change everything about themselves to be in the show. We got a chance to talk to the local legend before her episodes air on May 23.

The infamous NPB from Atlanta, Georgia! Just to introduce you and to speak about your incredible career, why don’t you tell us about where it all started?
I started doing drag in 1995 in Oklahoma, but then I moved to Atlanta in 1997 and started performing at Backstreet in 1998. It was the second place I ever performed, and I was added to the cast there for Wednesday nights, and since then, I have performed in just about every single bar and club in Atlanta. You know, I’ve got my 15-year anniversary since I was cast on Drag Race the first time, and it’s also my 30-year anniversary since starting drag, and now I’m back on Drag Race again! It’s somehow a full circle.
And it’s always been Atlanta?
You know I’ve just been traveling the world, basically doing drag, but I have no desire to ever leave the city that has supported me for so long, and I just love it here.
How has life been since the cast announcement in April, and now after the premiere of All Stars 10?
Crazy to be honest! My Instagram got hacked a couple of years ago, so I only had like 7000 followers, and I was like the lowest Ru girl in terms of followers or whatever, but it’s already that’s already doubled. I’m not really a big social media person, and all the online stuff is really completely different from what it was 15 years ago. Back then, we were told to sign up for these new platforms, Instagram and Twitter, and it’s just a whole different animal now, but I’m enjoying it!
So have you had to rethink your whole social and online presence for this?
Well, I’m just trying. I’m not really that tech-savvy, so I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, and hope I don’t mess it up too bad! I’m certainly surprised by the online reaction – well, maybe surprised is not the best way to describe it – but it’s been really cool to get this kind of great reception after all this time.
Has this helped you realize just how much of an icon people consider you to be?
For me, it’s been strange and wonderful to see the international attention I have been getting. You see a post in a foreign language you can’t even read, and you hit the translate button, and it says “icon” and “legend,” and I think ‘Do they really know me in Tokyo?’ You know, I usually say that “icon and “legend” are my pronouns, and I feel like I have earned that here in Atlanta, but now there’s a whole new audience, and it has been unexpectedly wonderful how well people have reacted.
Tell me about all the premiere events for All Stars. Judging from social media, it looked absolutely insane.
We didn’t have all of this back in my first season! But I’m used to having a mic in my hand, and I like being asked questions, and it was a lot of fun. As the other girls like to point out, I am the OG on the show. We haven’t all filmed together, and I hadn’t seen some of them in an All Stars capacity yet, so it was cool just to be together in a hotel and hang out and get to know each other.
How was your experience being back in front of a camera now versus then?
The first time, I really self-edited a lot because my family didn’t even know I was on the show, so people who watched that season would ask, ‘Why are you so reserved?’ I had never experienced anything like that, so you walk in the room, and you’re just hit with like 15 cameras that you’re supposed to be ignoring. This time around, I know how it goes, so I said to myself it’s kind of like going to your cousin’s house that you’ve only been to once or twice before, but you’re familiar with it.
How did you prepare for this season, where expectations are usually sky high?
They give you the categories, and you have to try to figure those out, so I ran those by a few people to pick their brains about it. I used designers that I have always been using here in town, because I wanted everything to be FAG – from Atlanta, Georgia.
I don’t have the designers that some of these girls, who return season after season, have, so, in the end, I wanted to make sure my aesthetic was genuine to me. So whenever I got in my head about turning it into something I would never wear, I made sure to swing back around and make it true to myself.
I have maintained a career over all this time, and I still think I look the same as I did back then. I haven’t gone through the glow-up that many of these queens do for All Stars, but I stay true to myself, and I think that is something that the audience also needs to see. I’m owning my age; I’m okay with the way I look. My body is a little different, but I can still work it.
What or who surprised you the most about this season?
Lydia B. Collins was a surprise, because when we filmed, season 17 hadn’t even aired, so none of us knew who or how she was, and we had only seen clips of her. But I really think this is such a good group of girls. I love the age range, there’s a lot of diversity on this show, including trans and non-binary, and of course, all the legends and icons, so all of that was a nice surprise.
What about the drama factor of the season? Do you get into it with the girls?
For some reason, in all the interviews, the girls were trying to say that I was the drama, but I don’t really remember it that way – but you know, I just defend myself, so if somebody says something, I probably respond to them.
I’ll have a quick response – that’s kind of the old-school thing –and some of those girls are pretty long-winded, but you don’t have to do a whole monologue to get to your point across. These girls wanna go on and get 30 minutes of airtime!
It’s going to be interesting to see when it airs, because with the new points system, we’ll see how messy it gets. I know that my bracket isn’t as congenial as the first one.
Besides on our TV screens, where else can we see Nicole Paige Brooks?
Well, I’ll be doing viewing parties at Lore on May 23 and 30, and I’ll be at the Eagle on May 24, and then back at Lore May 31 with Biqtch Puddin’. You can also find me on Instagram and TikTok (@thenicolepaigebrooks), and my YouTube channel is still active.