Alyssa Edwards

Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson (born January 16, 1980), best known by the stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson.

Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson was born on January 16, 1980, to Jimmy Harold Johnson and Sherrie Ann Laye in Mesquite, Texas.

He was one of seven children in the working-class family, and has described his mother as "the wind beneath (his) wings" and his father as "very, very masculine."

Growing up, Justin’s sisters were cheerleaders, and he often found himself wishing he could join in on their practices.

Described as a shy and creative child with no interest in sports, he enjoyed watching The Wizard of Oz and dancing and singing tunes such as Rod Stewart’s "Forever Young" in his front yard, to the discouragement of his father.

Justin was supported by his openly gay Uncle Bobby, who supplied him with a role as an extra in a local production of Brigadoon and financed his enrollment in an all-boys jazz dance class at the Joy Sharp School of Dance in Mesquite, and was only allowed to attend when his father was informed that the son of a local baseball coach attended the class as well.

Johnson’s parents divorced around the time he was in high school, when he attended West Mesquite High School and volunteered as an instructor and choreographer for the local peewee drill team.

After high school, he attended Ranger College before transferring to the University of North Texas, where he was briefly a part of the college cheer squad and came out as gay.

While at UNT, Justin made friends with fellow gay people and was taken to Oak Lawn, a neighborhood in Dallas that is commonly known as Dallas' "gayborhood".

It was there, at the Rose Room lounge in the Village Station, where he saw his first drag show.

Johnson began going to the Rose Room regularly, and performed in drag for the first time there for an amateur drag competition, where he utilized the makeup skills his sisters had taught him and slicked back his platinum blond hair "like Annie Lennox".

When asked by the emcee for his drag name, Johnson chose "Alyssa", after Alyssa Milano, who he’d watched on Who's the Boss? while growing up.

His surname, Edwards, was given to him later by his mentor and drag mother, Laken Edwards.

Johnson performs under the stage name Alyssa Edwards.

She chose her name in homage to Alyssa Milano and to her drag mother Laken Edwards, a former drag queen.

Edwards is part of the drag family "the Haus of Edwards," and serves as drag mother to fellow RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Shangela Laquifa Wadley, Laganja Estranja, Gia Gunn, Vivienne Pinay, and Plastique Tiara.

The film focused on the 34th Miss Gay America pageant of 2006.

Edwards appeared in the 2008 documentary Pageant.

Edwards was known for competing in drag pageantry (notably Miss Gay America 2010) before rising to international attention as a contestant on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming a fan favorite during and after her time on the show.

Edwards subsequently appeared on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and starred in her own web series, Alyssa's Secret.

Johnson lives in Mesquite, Texas, where he owns and operates a dance studio, Beyond Belief Dance Company.

Edwards was one of the judges of the 2010 California Entertainer of the Year pageant, which Shangela won.

On December 9, 2010, Edwards was stripped of her 2010 Miss Gay America title for having business dealings in conflict with obligations to the Miss Gay America organization.

First alternate Coco Montrese replaced Edwards as the winner of Miss Gay America.

That same year, Edwards was also stripped of her title as All American Goddess.

In November 2012, Logo announced that Edwards was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Also performing on the show was pageant friend and rival Coco Montrese.

Edwards performed and won in the ballet-themed main challenge in the "Black Swan: Why It Gotta Be Black?"

episode of Rupaul's Drag Race.

As part of the show, Edwards sang on the "We Are the World"-inspired song "Can I Get an Amen?"

The song's proceeds helped benefit the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

Edwards was eliminated in episode nine, following a lip sync against Coco Montrese, and finished in sixth place.

Edwards has also been a special guest on the podcast series run by RuPaul and Michelle Visage called RuPaul: What's The Tee?

She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA performance.

Edwards is also known for her web series titled "Alyssa's Secret".

The series stars Alyssa Edwards speaking on a multitude of subjects and often features guests including other members of the Haus of Edwards.

The webseries is produced and premieres through World of Wonder Productions.

In 2016, Edwards returned as one of 10 contestants in Season 2 of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, ending in fifth place.

Edwards won the main challenge of the third episode titled "HERstory of the World", playing Annie Oakley in a performance featuring other famous women throughout history.

Johnson and his dance studio are the centerpieces of a docuseries, Dancing Queen, produced by RuPaul and World of Wonder that premiered on October 5, 2018 on Netflix.