Karl Sanchez (born 14 March 1991), known by the stage name Nicky Doll, is a French drag queen, television personality, and musician based in New York City.
Nicky Doll is best known as the main host of Drag Race France and a competitor on the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She is also known for Les Voyages de Nicky, a documentary that explores gender expression, the art of drag, and LGBT activism in different countries.
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Early life
Sanchez was born on March 14, 1991, in Marseille, France, but also travelled quite a bit as a child, living in St. Martin and Morocco. His mother is Spanish.
Career
Sanchez trained to be a make-up artist. Sanchez created the drag persona Nicky Doll in 2009 and has modeled extensively, appearing on the pages of Féroce Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Volition Magazine among others.
Nicky Doll does not belong to any drag family. Her name is a tribute to Nicki Minaj and is meant to evoke versatility. Nicky Doll has described herself as a 90's life-size doll.
Nicky Doll's participation on season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race was announced on January 23, 2020. She is the first French contestant on the US version of the show. She has been described as a ‘look queen’ and has spoken openly about “deep insecurities when it comes to the language barrier” that she experienced during the show. As a result of her appearance on Drag Race, Nicky Doll was hand-picked by RuPaul to do Pete Davidson's makeup for a pre-recorded sketch on an episode of Saturday Night Live which was hosted by RuPaul.
In March 2022, Nicky Doll was announced as the host of Drag Race France. The first season of Drag Race France premiered on June 25, 2022. Drag Race France All Stars was announced in November 2024, after 3 seasons of Drag Race France. In addition to hosting the show, Nicky Doll has headlined the Drag Race France Live tour after the airing of each season, with performances in most major French cities as well as a few stops in Belgium and Switzerland.
In 2023, Nicky Doll co-created and released a 4-part documentary series entitled Les Voyages de Nicky, which follows Nicky Doll as she explores queer communities around the world. The first season showcases India, Greece, Mexico, and Japan. The documentary had its international premiere on October 20, 2024 at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York City. In May 2024, Nicky Doll provided commentary for the French broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 semi-finals on Culturebox. That same month, she took part in the 2024 Summer Olympics torch relay in Arles, France, becoming the second drag queen to carry the Olympic torch.
On July 26, 2024, Nicky Doll was a part of the fashion runway and dance (Festivité) segment for the televised opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics and performed her newly released single, "I had a dream". Following remarks made by Laurence Fox calling Nicky Doll and other drag performers "deviant little pedos" on Twitter during the opening ceremonies, Sanchez filed a complaint in defamation towards Fox and other social media users on August 2. Sanchez commented "I’m about to sue you again for defamation – the same exact topic that you were sued on and lost," in reference to a case won by Canadian-British drag performer Crystal against Fox for similar remarks.
Personal life
Sanchez came out as gay at the age of 18. He relocated from Paris to San Francisco in 2015, before moving to New York in 2017.