From RuPaul’s Drag Race to France’s Biggest Stages: Meet Karl Sanchez, the Artist Behind Nicky Doll

[Music] [Applause] [Music] Hello and thanks for joining us. Today’s guest has conquered RuPaul’s Drag Race, become the face of Drag Race France, now reaching more than 16 million viewers, and is taking over some of France’s biggest stages. Carl Sanchez, better known as Nikki Doll. Welcome to the show. Hi, and thank you for having me. It’s such a pleasure to have you. Now, we know you best as the flamboyant, fearless Nikki Doll. I heard of her. I’ve heard of her. An alter ego you’ve been building since the early 2010s. Now this duality lies at the heart of your new album which is called Apollo Artemis. Now this title itself really references the Greek gods of sun and moon, masculine and feminine. Um this balance really seems to define not just your art but your entire being. Tell us a bit more about that. Yeah, I uh I’ve always um thrived in exploring uh the duality of my persona uh which is you know obviously drag is what I do and Carl is who I am. Uh, and I’ve always been in complete uh, peace with with both of of that of those energies. And I wanted to explore pop music through the same lens, which was like you can have some disco pop that you would listen with a cocktail at a pool party, but you would also have some more um um, sexy dark pop that you would listen very late at night. And so I wanted to be able to put all of that into one album. And so Appleo Artemis uh, and today I came as a Appleo. and Artemis will probably come out tonight. Okay. Well, we’re going to listen to Drifting Away from the album. Just quickly introduce it for us. Drifting Away is a um an ode to um Dancing Through the Rain and Through the Pain and uh it was like one of the few pop EDM track from the album. Okay, let’s take a listen. [Music] Feeling it rushing through my veins. I’m drifting away. [Music] [Applause] You’re feeling me. Can’t make out a single word you say. I’m resting the game. So, you’re very busy at the moment. That’s from your new album. You’re also about to embark on the first ever Drag Race France Zenith tour. um entering in spectacular style at Paris’s um Aqua Arena in November. How does that feel? It feels amazing. The Drag Race France experience have started almost like 4 years ago now. Uh this was something that uh I hardly saw coming and happened that fast. I moved to the US in order to be able to live uh through my art and I was able to do the American franchise. To be able to now host the French franchise and go on tour and do all the Zenit of France is is surreal and uh we’re very excited, very happy and uh even happier to end on such a bang with the Akor Arena which is like I think three times bigger than his. Wow. Incredible stuff. When you first walked onto the RuPaul’s um drag race stage in 2020, did you ever realize how big drag was going to become in France? No, I um I was uh No, because we didn’t even have a French representation on the American franchise yet. I’m the first one to do it and I didn’t think that it would have that much of an impact on the drag culture in France. I’m very very honored and and uh and happy that uh I get to provide a platform for local art to also be able to become full-time drains. Okay. Well, let’s take a look at a teaser from the show. Now, the energy, the choreography, the costumes, it’s all breathtaking. Um, why is it that drag gives you the greatest freedom to express yourself? I think that um it gives me the greatest freedom because I start my day as a drag queen knowing that I don’t fit into most of the the spaces. It’s a political act but it’s also an act that free yourself from all the pressure from society. So when you get on stage and you get to be this fabulous you just have a blast. And I think that’s why, you know, Sher is looking the way she looks on stage or Madonna or David Bowie or Grace Jones or Lady Gaga. I’m no different than them. They also put on a drag. And I think we both put on a drag this morning wanting to dress up and deciding what color we want to wear. I think drag just push it a little bit further when it comes to the gender, but it’s the most free freeing feeling ever. Well, fashion is very central obviously to Nikki Doll. You’ve been amused for Terry Muggler, um, Jean Paul Goautier. You recently walked for Vento at Paris Fashion Week and looked absolutely incredible. Thank you. How would you describe your look? I would say that Nikki Dolli is the perfect intersection between French couture from the ‘9s and Japanese pop culture from like anime or video games. I’m like the most beautiful villain you will ever meet that just dresses in beautiful gowns and expensive ones. When I was um researching you, Carl, your childhood sounds absolutely remarkable. You’re so lucky. You’re born in Marseilles. You grew up in St. Martin in the Caribbean. Um you spent your teenage years in Tangier and then Paris and New York now. Um how did growing up in so many different cultures shape who you are today? Well, I was lucky to um um grow up with a single mom and she always wanted to travel. She always loved to be by the beach and with a very warm temperature. So when she got pregnant, she just told herself that it would not stop her anyway to be able to explore the world. And I’m just so thankful for that because it really um taught me that above being French or living in Morocco or the Caribbeans, I was a citizen of this this planet. And to be able to explore it and understand that the difference is not the enemy is something that I really cherish. And I think I try to incorporate that into my art and the different things that I do to bring people together rather than divide them like uh we see a lot of that happening right now. Uh well, you are a big part of um drag’s evolution here in France. Um we’ve got a report now about how it’s crossing over into unexpected arenas. In Paris, there’s a performer called Amin Klush. He has fused drag with professional wrestling in drag attack wrestling. The show takes place every month at the Belleville in Paris. Senlaus young chairman Olivia Salazar Winspear got a ringside seat. [Music] When glitz and glamour meet hyper masculine wrestlers, sequins are sure to fly. And in this ring, drag queens aren’t afraid to take a beating. A three-hour suare of artistic and athletic performances. There’s plenty of drama and a dash of betrayal. I think all the verbal jabs from the drag queens are great. It really gives wrestling an extra something, that drag aspect. There’s actually not much difference between a drag show and a wrestling show in terms of how they highlight gender and stuff. Professional wrestlers, both men and women, play with the codes of gender and create a new space for expression in the queer community. Kenya was among the first drag queens to sign up when the event was created in 2024. When I was younger, I was quite shy and reserved. It was when I saw women doing wrestling, strong women, viral women wrestling and showing another sort of femininity. That’s when I said maybe when I’m older I could follow in their footsteps and it really reassured me when I started thinking about transitioning. It’s thanks to wrestling where two worlds collide that I felt I could do drag and be a wrestler. Amin Klush came up with the concept and organized the first event. The business school graduate has been wrestling since his teenage years dressed as a female character. He gradually became France’s first drag queen wrestler. A lot of minorities were not represented in that space. Being able to put on a show like this with queer people in the spotlight is a political act. Totally. It’s allowed the wrestling crowd to discover another scene. And given that the drag queens I bring in are either wrestling fans or seriously interested in the scene. It shows a certain seriousness, a certain credibility. At the Association of Professional Wrestlers, around 15 drag queens have already joined the training sessions where participants are encouraged to experiment with all sorts of scenarios. [Music] For me, drag is wrestling without the athletic side. We create a character and then we realize that sometimes what could be cool is to mix the two worlds. Or in fact, the drag queens could take on more wrestling-like characters, and we could take on more drag-like characters. And just like high level sport, drag requires commitment, training, and a good sense of balance. There we go. Then what do you make of drag wrestling? Uh, absolutely not. But I would definitely go check it out. I think it’s really, it sounds really fun. So Carl Sanchez, you have achieved so much. TV host, recording artist, author. What’s next on your dream list? uh to be able to take my album on the road and to be able to perform my music on my voice and not lip sync others. That’s really what I want to do next. Okay. Well, we’ll look forward to it. Thank you. It’s been a pleasure to have you. Um catch the live Allst Stars Royal Tour Across France and at Paris’s Aqua Arena on the 6th of November. The album is called Apollo Artemis and it’s out now. Before we go, we your cultural pick of the week for us is Zara Larson’s new album which is called Midnight Sun. Tell us what drew you to this record. Um, I’ve been following her for a while and I’m really happy to see her thrive and this is really a good reminder that the summer is not done at the end of August. Yes, I like it. Thank you so much for joining us. You can find us um more at france4.com and on social media. We’re going to leave you then with Zara Larson’s Midnight Sun. She’s playing at the Sal Pel in Paris in November. See you next time. [Music] When you can still see the light. Can’t find me. I’m not in the city tonight. I like your playlist, boy. Turn it up a little louder. Roads empty. So you drive a little faster. It’s taking some time, but I’m feeling so high. Show my sand. Slow roof top down. It’s golden out all the time.

The first French contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race – and the fearless host of Drag Race France – Karl Sanchez, better known as Nicky Doll, joins Eve Jackson on Arts24 to share the story behind the persona. In this episode, Karl opens up about his powerful new album “Apollo • Artemis”, his journey balancing masculinity and femininity, and how drag has become a platform for art, fashion, and activism. He also tells us about the first-ever Drag Race France Live All Stars Royal Tour.
#NickyDoll #ApolloArtemis #DragRaceFranceLive

🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN

🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/

Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X: https://f24.my/Xen
Bluesky: https://f24.my/BSen and Threads: https://f24.my/THen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen

1 comment

Comments are closed.