“I’m ready to share Alyssa Edwards again.”
After six long years, drag superstar Alyssa Edwards is back. Edwards is one of twelve queens vying for a place in the International Pavilion at the Drag Race Hall of Fame in “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars,” which premiered Friday on Paramount+.
And as she faces stiff competition from the other queens, Edwards declares that she has some unfinished business and wants to be crowned Queen of the Mothertucking world.
But why did it take so long? She attributes it to trusting her feelings; but also: timing was everything. So when the opportunity to appear on “Global All Stars” arose, Edwards jumped at it. “I remember sitting there thinking, ‘I’m ready to challenge myself. I’m ready to put my art out there again.’” She added, “This was a chapter that I felt was unfinished business.”
During the show, all twelve queens will represent their home countries and bring charisma, courage and talent to an international level. Edwards will represent the US flagship show. “This is where it all started,” she says.
“Drag Race Global” also features Athena Likis (Belgium), Eva Le Queen (Philippines), Gala Varo (Mexico), Kitty Scott-Claus (United Kingdom), Kween Kong (Australia), Miranda Lebrão (Brazil), Nehellenia ( Italy). ), Pythia (Canada), Soa de Muse (France), Tessa Testicle (Switzerland) and Vanity Vain (Sweden).
Edwards compares the latest iteration of the franchise to the Olympics of Drag. Instead of entering through the traditional entrance to the workspace, the queens emerge onto a main stage, providing them with the brightest spotlight from the start.
That large platform is important to the queens when it comes to representing their countries and their influence, but some feel pressure to take on this responsibility.
Drag Race Italia Season 2 alum Nehellenia admitted she felt nervous. “Italian drag queens are underestimated,” she says. “We are not famous all over the world. We don’t have the same opportunities. We just work in clubs. We don’t do TV and premieres, so to be here representing my country and all my drag sisters could be the first time an Italian queen can show the world that we are all the same.” She adds: “Maybe I can be the voice of all Italian queens and ask for more.”
Scott-Claus admits: “At first I thought, ‘Okay, it’s just like last time.’ But it’s not just ‘Drag Race UK’, it’s the whole bloody United Kingdom. It’s huge, but that’s what makes it so exciting. It is a huge honor to demonstrate our resistance on this global stage.”
‘Drag Race France’ alumnus de Muse must grapple with coming from a country considered the fashion capital of the world. “That’s just a cliché,” says De Muse, but it obviously increases the pressure when putting together her look. “I’m just going to have fun because I see all this talent in front of me, and we can learn from each other,” she teases.
Pythia didn’t let her compete in ‘Drag Race Canada’, so she didn’t get any preconceived ideas. “I’m going to have fun and get on with it,” she says, promising to show an elevated version of herself. “What happens in the past is in the past, and that served me at the time. This is the future, this is the now, and let’s create something new.”