Trixie Mattel is ready to take Palm Springs by storm.
In the new discovery+ series Trixie Motel, the drag queen, whose real name is Brian Firkus, and her partner David Silver take viewers behind the scenes as they transform a dilapidated motel into a place worthy of the distinctive Palm Springs community. Throughout the eight episodes, the couple is joined by friends, some more helpful than others (yes, she was referring to Katya Zamolodchikova, a.k.a. Brian McCook).
While it sounds like there's a lot of tough decisions and hammers involved in filming this renovation, Trixie told E! News that it's not your average design series. "It's part Simple Life, part My Life on the D-List, but it's also a heavy dollop of The Office," she said. "We're working with a drag queen here, so I'm living in one foot in reality, one foot out of reality, you know?"
She joked that she'd like to imagine it's as serious as, say March of the Penguins, but it's really Best in Show. So basically, it's exactly what you'd expect from Trixie.
"It's self-deprecating and comedic, of course, but it's earnest," she said, adding that she and David really wanted to make a motel that is true to the Palm Springs aesthetic. "That was kind of the goal the whole time was just to add something that really felt like it's always been there."
More importantly, Trixie wants to give her fans a place that is vibrant and fun. As a drag queen, she gets that people want to be entertained and let loose, a factor that she and David kept in mind when designing the boutique motel, which is vibrant and kitschy in the best way possible.
Part of this desire to make an outrageous motel stems from Trixie's understanding that her fans "always want to feel like a kid."
"Anytime that I'm Trixie, I give people an opportunity to just feel like a kid," she said. "They just they love it. It is something very freeing and it's good for your soul—we're all just kids walking around with doing this sad impersonation of what we think adults are doing."
In her mind, the only thing that could possibly top Trixie Motel is an adult summer camp. She envisions a sleep-away moment, with a bunch of hands-on activities to fill the day. "Like imagine you and your friends go, you get this little shirt that says you're a camper and you stay in a themed lodge with your friend," she explained. "Then, during the day there's drag queens with all the clipboards making you do stuff."
Trixie added that she'd have basket weaving, stargazing and possibly archery—"maybe not archery and alcohol"—as camp activities, too.
But this is much further down the road. Right now, Trixie is just trying to balance everything that she's already committed to, including managing a gay bar, cosmetics company, stand-up comedy gigs, the motel—you get the idea. As she said, "At this point, on the internet, if you haven't seen me yet, you've actively avoided me."
Those who want more Trixie in their lives can tune in to Trixie Motel, streaming now on discovery+.