Alyssa Edwards Profile
Alyssa Edwards is an American TV Personality, Choreographer, Drag Queen, and Entrepreneur known for appearing most recently in the show “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars”. He is also known for appearing in “RuPaul’s Drag Race ” (season 5) and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” (season 2).
Alyssa Edwards Wiki
Full Name: Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson
Profession: TV Personality, Dancer, Drag Queen, and Dance Teacher
Nationality: American
Education: West Mesquite High School, the University of North Texas, and Ranger College
Gender: Non-binary
Sexual Orientation: Gay
Pronouns: She/Her (as a drag queen) | He/Him (when not a drag queen)
Date of Birth: January 16, 1980
Age / How Old is Alyssa Edwards?: 44 years old as of 2024
Place of Birth: Mesquite, Texas
Country: United States Of America
Height / How tall is Alyssa Edwards?: 5 feet 8 inches
Parents: Sherrie Ann Laye (mom) and Jimmy Harold Johnson (dad)
Marital Status: Not Available
Net Worth: $3 Million
Alyssa Edwards Education
Edwards went to West Mesquite High School where he was part of the local peewee drill team – serving as a choreographer and instructor. From there, he joined Ranger College but he did not graduate there – instead, he transferred to the University of North Texas. There he was a member of the college cheer squad and it was while there that he came out of the closet as gay.
Alyssa Edwards Career
Early Career
When Edwards was young, he enjoyed watching “The Wizard of Oz” and used to dance/sing to songs like “Forever Young” in his front yard, much to his dad’s disapproval. Bobby (his gay uncle) supported him by getting him a role as an extra in a local production of “Brigadoon” and paying for his enrollment in an all-boys jazz dance class at the Joy Sharp School of Dance in Mesquite. Edwards was only allowed to attend after his dad learned that a local baseball coach’s son was also in the class.
While studying at the University of North Texas, Edwards befriended other gay students and visited Oak Lawn, a Dallas neighborhood known as the “gayborhood.” At the Rose Room lounge, he saw his 1st drag show and started attending regularly. He entered an amateur drag competition there, using makeup skills his sisters had taught him and styling his platinum blond hair like Annie Lennox. When asked for his drag name, he chose “Alyssa,” after Alyssa Milano, whom he watched on Who’s the Boss? His mentor and drag mom, Laken Edwards, later gave him the last name “Edwards.”
Professional Career
Edwards has had an extensive career as a television personality, appearing in many reality TV shows and several films. Most notably, she has starred in the 5th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and the 2nd season of the show “All Stars”.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5:
In the year 2012, Edwards joined the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, competing against Coco Montrese, with whom she had a past conflict. Their history led to many arguments during the season. Edwards won a ballet challenge in episode 4, saving her from elimination after a poor Katy Perry impersonation in the next episode. In episode 7, after a weak stand-up performance, she ended up in the bottom two but was saved after a strong lip-sync. She landed in the bottom two again in the following episode but eliminated Ivy Winters with another lip-sync. Edwards’s run ended in episode 9 after losing a close lip-sync against Coco Montrese, finishing in 6th place.
All Stars Season 2:
In the year 2016, Edwards joined the 2nd season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” due to positive fan support. The cast included 4 other queens from season 5, including her former rival, Coco Montrese, with whom she had reconciled. Edwards performed well in the episode 1 talent show and stayed safe while Montrese was eliminated. In episode 3, Edwards excelled as Annie Oakley, won the lip sync, and chose to eliminate Ginger Minj. She was eliminated by Alaska in episode 4 but re-entered the competition in episode 5 by teaming up with Alaska. Both queens were allowed back into the game and chose to eliminate Phi Phi O’Hara. Edwards was controversially eliminated in episode 7 by Detox, finishing in 5th place, which many saw as unfair due to her strong performance and the close friendship between Detox, Alaska, and Roxxxy Andrews.
Alyssa Edwards Personal Life, Family, Parents, and Dating
Edwards was born on January 16, 1980, in Mesquite, Texas, United States. He is therefore 44 years old as of 2024 and he celebrates his birthday every year on January 16. He was born to Jimmy Harold Johnson (father) and Sherrie Ann Laye (mother), who divorced when Edwards was in high school. Edwards was brought up in Mesquite, Texas alongside his 6 siblings (including sisters) whose identities are unknown. He stands at an approximate height of 5 feet 8 inches. When it comes to his dating, it is not known whether Edwards is in any relationship currently. However, it is known that he has dated Manny Silveyra (a dance instructor) and has been engaged to a guy called Marco.
Alyssa Edwards Net Worth
Edwards has an approximate net worth of $3 Million which he has earned through his successful career as a TV Personality, Choreographer, Drag Queen, and Entrepreneur.
Alyssa Edwards RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars
Edwards is among the stars of Season One of the reality TV series “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars”, which premiered on August 16, 2024, on the Paramount+ network and WOW Presents Plus. In this show, Edwards competes for a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame (an international pavilion) and a cash prize of $200K among other drag queens.
Below is a list of the other drag queens;
- Athena Likis
- Eva Le Queen
- Gala Varo
- Kitty Scott-Claus
- Kween Kong
- Miranda Lebrão
- Nehellenia
- Pythia
- Soa de Muse
- Tessa Testicle
- Vanity Vain
Alyssa Edwards Dance
Edwards resides in Mesquite, Texas, where he runs his dance studio “Beyond Belief Dance Company”. Both he and his studio are featured in a docuseries called “Dancing Queen”, produced by RuPaul, and “World of Wonder”, which premiered on Netflix on October 5, 2018.
Alyssa Edwards Awards and Honors
Edwards has won several honors over the years of his career. These awards include;
- Miss Gay Texas America 2004 (1st alternate) and 2005 (winner)
- 2005:
- Miss Northwest Regional Representative (winner)
- Miss Gay America (2nd alternate)
- 2006:
- Miss Texas FFI (winner)
- Miss Gay America (3rd alternate)
- Miss Gay USofA (winner)
- Miss Texas Continental 2007 (winner)
- Miss Gay Mid East America 2008 (1st alternate)
- 2009:
- Miss Gay America (3rd alternate)
- Miss Shining Star Continental (winner)
- Miss Gay Heartland America (1st alternate)
- 2010:
- Southern Elegance All American Goddess (winner)
- Miss Gay Heartland America (1st alternate)Miss Gay America (winner)
- All American Goddess (winner)
- National Entertainer of the Year, FI 2014 (1st alternate)
- WOWIE Awards (2018 and 2019)
- Queerty Awards (2019)
Alyssa Edwards Movies and TV Shows
Films/Movies
Edwards has appeared in 3 movies as of 2020:
- The Queens (2020)
- Hurricane Bianca 1 and 2 (2016 and 2018)
- Pageant (2008)
TV Shows
He has starred in many television shows in his career, and some of them include;
- The GOAT
- America’s Got Talent (season 16)
- MTV Cribs
- RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race
- The Bachelorette
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
- Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul
- NewNowNext Awards
- Skin Wars
- RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked
- My Life as Liz
Web Series
According to his Wikipedia Page, he has also appeared in several web series such as;
- The Pit Stop
- Drag Queens React
- God Shave the Queens
- Served! with Jade Thirlwall
- Headlines with Alyssa Edwards
- Alyssa Raw
- Werq the World
- Once Upon A Crime
- Be$tie$ For Ca$h