Manila Luzon and Michael Jeremy Alvarez talk Manila’s Escape to Paradise

So before we dive in, what can you tell us about the project?

Manila: Manila’s Escape to Paradise is what I thought was going to be a relaxing vacation on Fire Island…which then ended up, turning into a drag gig and then a film crew showed up. So…it turns out I can’t trust my husband Michael here. He loves to work, he’s a workaholic! But sometimes, when you’re on vacation you don’t want to be working! Luckily, for me, I have a fun job and I love it.

Manila, if Drag wasn’t it, what do you think you’d be doing?

Manila: I don’t know…that’s the thing. I REALLY DON’T KNOW. I love drag so much. It’s a tough decision…but I have my vodka and my lube…I guess I could work in the spirits industry, or the sex industry…the possibilities are endless!

I love that! So the show takes place on Fire Island, Have you been before?

Manila: Since I’m on the West Coast now, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Fire Island. When I lived in NYC it was great since Fire Island is just a few hours out of the city. It’s a ton of fun. It’s a place for the gays and everyone from the community to escape from the hot city during the summer. There’s parties and everyone just rents beach houses and hangs on the beach. It’s also nice being away from kids and Disney.

Okay so less Disney on Fire Island…noted! What was your first trip together?

Manila: It was actually a work trip for me. It’s always been kind of a work-life balance because I get to travel a lot for work. I try to take an extra day here and there to see some of the sights. I think our first trip was Vancouver?

Michael: Yeah it was Vancouver and we took a train down to Seattle. I remember we had great Italian food and I remember sitting there and feeling like that’s where we got that spark.

Manila: Oh I had the spark way before that. We had already slept together by that point!

Michael: Oh that’s a good story! So the first time we slept together, I actually lost my phone the very next day and Manila had thought I hit it and quit it! I had also moved from New York to LA a few days later.

Manila: And then I got this random phone call from an LA number and I was like “Oh, Hollywood is calling!” So I picked up and it was him…so much better than Hollywood.

Sooooo much better. So what makes this show stand out??

Michael: Honestly, is there any other gay married couple on TV that shows you how their lifestyle is behind their actual career? This is giving insight to marital relationships and mixing it with, managing a business.

Manila: My husband’s my boss, sometimes I’m his boss. It’s an interesting power dynamic. We don’t really know who’s in charge at this point.

Michael: Sometimes we have to flip a coin to figure it out! There are a lot of drag-husband couples that exist out there and I know that this relationship is relatable to so many of our peers and it’s exciting to see how they can relate to our stresses and our love.

I can’t wait for everyone to see it. What would be your favourite memory from set?

Manila: I always love when my friends show up. When they arrived on set, I kind of forgot we were being filmed and it kind of just helped everyone let loose. We had also rented this beach house and we had extra rooms so we just invited our friends and had a little mini vacation.

Michael: I agree. When JMV showed up it was just nonstop laughter.  And Ricky Roman is just so laid back and cool…and just so f***ing sexy. Watching him cook chicken in pretty much just his underwear was….

Manila: Was he wearing underwear??

Michael: There was definitely a time when he wasn’t wearing underwear, but that part didn’t make the cut because we needed to put this thing on TV.

Manila: We were all just having so much fun making this thing!

I’m so glad to hear that. When you guys have fun, audiences have fun watching you have fun. What do you think fans will love most about this one?

Manila:  They get to see a little bit more of our relationship together as a gay couple….as husbands. I know that people got to meet Michael when he was my makeover challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4 so it’s nice to show people more of him and see how hard he works, and how motivated he is. Our relationship is so multifaceted…especially when it comes to us having to share our careers together and I think that’s a fun thing to see on TV.