Alyssa Edwards Is Ready to Have a “Flashy, Sassy, and Fun” Time with ‘Alyssa’s Secret: The ReBOOT’

Alyssa Edwards had a secret, but now the whole world knows it: Alyssa’s Secret is coming back for a brand new season on WOW Presents Plus. The fan favorite — dare I say flagship? — World of Wonder web series is back back back back back again and ready to deliver new catchphrases, meme-able moments, and big ol’ giggles.

The premise is simple: put Alyssa Edwards on screen and magic will happen. There’s just something about that barstool-in-a-basement setup that facilitates all of the Edwards-ian tomfoolery that RuPaul’s Drag Race fans have loved for 10 years.

Ahead of Alyssa’s Secret’s highly-anticipated return, Decider got the chance to chat with the legend herself, Alyssa Edwards, about her stunning looks, bringing her dance troupe to America’s Got Talent, and how a drag queen can tell when she has made it, honey.

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Decider: How has the response been to the sneak peek video for Alyssa’s Secret: The ReBOOT?

Alyssa Edwards: I am notorious for not reading comments. Back to [Drag Race] Season 5, I read one comment and someone was like, “This guy’s funny. He reminds me of a little bit of Pee-wee Herman, Gomer Pyle, but he has a big forehead.” And so I promised myself, never read the comments.

I posted yesterday during the day so last night I was going through the comments and, oh my gosh, I just sat at my dining room table just smiling ear to ear. Alyssa’s Secret was probably, if not the first one, of the first two web series that World of Wonder produced and then it jumpstarted the WOW Presents Plus platform, along with James St. James Transformations and it was just this silly, campy idea of me sitting on a barstool in front of a green screen just talking to nobody but myself in the mirror. And it is no Alyssa’s secret that I am my biggest fan, but I never thought it would be this, what it is today. To be honest with you, I didn’t think these younger generations of kids would even know it existed. I was on Drag Race ten years ago, a decade ago, and I was only on Logo. So Drag Race has really blossomed over the years. But the amount of positive, uplifting excitement — it really, really just had my heart, my whole world, just beaming.

What made right now the perfect time to bring Alyssa’s Secret back for a reboot?

Listen: drag, for me, I always found campy, always found ideally rebellious and fun, but above all, it always left joy within. I always giggled every time I would go to a drag show. As a young guy, I was — I know this is hard to believe — an introvert, just awkward, and I would just giggle. I would hold my hands up over my mouth. So this reboot is going to be starting April 26, every single Wednesday — it’s midweek, we all know hump day, “Hey, we’re almost there.” It’s gonna hopefully provide that giggle to everyone, especially in the world that we live in right now where our community is so under fire. It’s being attacked unnecessarily. I hope people stumble across this and just laugh. I hope they find a giggle within.

That’s a good catchphrase for Alyssa’s Secret, “Find the giggle within.”

Let me go ahead and write that down.

What topics are you getting into this time? Is there a certain episode you’re excited for people to see?

I watched the trailer and I was like, I have to remind myself we’re filming at all times. The feathers are falling off, I’m talking about my ass — what? That was the trailer! I said, “Why is this a spectacle?” It’s just a spectacle. I’m looking at this like, what in the world are you over here doing? But here’s the thing: there’s an element of it that is don’t take it too seriously. Laugh at yourself. Make it lighthearted. Yes, there are topics that I’m very excited to see. Yes, there are episodes and special guests. I can’t wait to share that with everyone. But above all, I think just all things Alyssa Edwards — like I said, it’s a spectacle always. It’s silly, it’s fun, it’s campy, it’s just overall a good time.

It’s funny that you say it’s a spectacle because it is literally just you sitting on a stool in front of a green screen, but it is still a spectacle! That’s partly because of the looks and the eleganza we’re getting this season. What goes into making an Alyssa’s Secret look?

I always have Joan Collins in my head. It’s like, “What would Joan do?” In my world, I’m in the only boudoir just sitting here with feathers draped and all of these rhinestones and sparkles and sequins. I’m not a fashion queen. I want gaudy and I want sparkles everywhere. So for me putting a look together, I want it to be flashy, and sassy, and fun. Especially for this reboot, I was like, “No, I gotta come back with the glow up because some of those…” I was watching some of those [earlier] videos and I was like, “Girl, what are you wearing?” But in that time, I thought I was doing it, honey! I was doing it! I think now I’m a little bit more meticulous. I want lots of color and shine. So I just think, what Joan would do is she would be fabulous. She’d be the ultimate, fabulous, sitting here — in a basement, by the way!

In a basement on a stool. Over the years you’ve done a lot of different kinds of TV shows. There are the competition reality shows like Drag Race, where you’ve been a competitor, a choreographer, and a Lip Sync Assassin. There’s you in the audience rooting for Shangela on Dancing with the Stars. You had your own docuseries on Netflix, Dancing Queen. Now you’re back with Alyssa’s Secret, which is unlike any of those. Is there a kind of reality show that you love doing the most?

One of my favorites recently, and I just got reminded this, was being with my students from Beyond Belief Dance Company — which I’m celebrating 20 years owning my dance school — on America’s Got Talent last year, sharing the stage with the kids in drag, being supported by their families and by the people watching this, and really applauding. Because I was very nervous. I’m not gonna lie to you. I was very prepared for all of the negativity and hate, and there might have been just a couple, but you had to dig for it. And it was just very snide comments, people saying they don’t fully understand. That’s a good thing you don’t understand. Maybe watch, maybe research, look into it. But that platform was so rewarding in so many ways. But as I stood in the wings in full drag, watching my students, I was beaming with pride and joy. That was a big thing for me. I do have another project on the horizon. People are going to really — trying not to tease, but tease, but I’m trying not to get sued! It’s mega and I think it’s going to… [long pause] It’s mega. I’ll stop there.

What I love about having you on TV is that you create moments with just words — moments that endure. Like, I used “rigor morris” in a Drag Race article and then had to explain to my editor that no, that was correct. Do you have a favorite Alyssa’s Secret quote that people say to you all the time?

Oh my gosh! One of the ones that got shared recently was that video of me and Sharon Needles is doing my makeup and she’s like, “If I don’t become a star by 35, I’m gonna be a serial killer.”And I turn and say, “… and how old are you?” That was a good one. And then “what the fuck is going on in here on this day?” They love that one. They love that one. I would sit in the basement and I would just have a good old gay time. Who knows what was going to come out who knows what was gonna happen? I was having fun doing it and it is a testament to drag and the joy that it can bring to others.

And you bring that joy to kids of all ages at Beyond Belief in Mesquite, Texas, and you have for 20 years. This moment that we’re in now, where conservative politicians are attacking drag as being dangerous to minors, do you have any insight into why this is happening?

Right now what we’re seeing is a huge distraction, but I will say this: this is when you know you’ve made it. I started doing drag at 11p.m., the show started 12 a.m. No, no, no, no, no — you know you’ve made it when drag shows are going on during Sunday church. [Queens are] in the streets, we’re on Good Morning America, we’re on America’s Got Talent, and now we’re being chatted about in the White House. That’s when you know you made it, when people are threatened by your happiness, by your success, by your growth. And this too shall pass. Once again, we will prevail. We’ve fought the good fight for years and that’s why we’re all here and we will continue to unite and use our voices. We won’t back down and we won’t go away. We’re going to carry on.

I’m looking at this. [picks up a clack fan for HBO’s We’re Here] I love this fan of Shangela, Bob and Eureka and it is so true: we are here and we’re here to stay. So if it’s not something you like, just simply keep it moving, but your opinion is neither desired nor required.

Alyssa’s Secret: The ReBOOT premieres on WOW Presents Plus on Wednesday, April 26