A mermaid, a competitive eater, and an ASMR daddy. What these three people have in common is the one and only drag superstar Art Simone, who – on season one of her podcast, ‘Concealed’ – unveiled some of the craziest secrets from everyday Aussies living double lives.
And with season two of Art Simone's 'Concealed' just beginning, we’re in for 12 more episodes full of surprises.
After enjoying every moment of recording season one of her very own podcast, Art Simone is thrilled to be back for a second season. “It’s great,” the 'RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under' alum explains. “It’s a nice little pat on the back that we did some great work in season one. . . But I'm even more excited because it means we get to shine a spotlight on more interesting people.”
It’s these interesting people that Art is most passionate about when creating the pod. “[The podcast] is really about bringing unique people into a safe space where we get to celebrate them for their differences,” she says, “whether that’s an interesting job, or hobby, or skillset, or passion, it's just really fun to bring them in and let them shine.”
While season one gave us a glimpse into the world of the aforementioned mermaid, competitive eater, and an ASMR daddy, the one person Art was most surprised by was the taxidermist.
“I fell in love with her because she was such a wonderful soul,” Art begins, “but she really opened my eyes to understand that taxidermy isn't just stuffing dead animals.”
“She uses preservation techniques to also help a lot of people in the queer community; she’s helped a lot of FTM [female-to-male] trans people, for example, who have had their uterus removed as part of the gender affirmation surgery. And what she’ll do is she’ll preserve it for them so that they have a piece of themselves to remember the journey they've been on and where they've come from.”
This season, however, Art promises there are 12 more individuals living even more surprising double lives.
“We’ve got a stunning mixed bag of absolute superstars,” she begins. “We kicked off with a celebrity. Now I know what you're saying, you're going, ‘how would you know, because you're not meant to know who they are when you walk in the room’. . . Well, I didn't know what this celebrity looked like, but what I can tell you is that she defined a generation and she was on the telly daily for kids in the '90s and has worked on a lot of amazing projects over the years. I was flabbergasted when I worked out who it was, so if you're a '90s kid, you're gonna love the first episode.”
Looking forward, Art Simone shares her wish list of guests for a potential season three. “Who I actually want to talk to is either someone who’s been abducted by aliens, because I think that’d be so interesting, or I would actually really like to talk to someone who's a professional paparazzi, because there’d be some great stories when they’re on the hunt for a good snap of a celebrity,” Art says.
A celebration of all things unorthodox, Art Simone has created the perfect safe space where she can highlight the everyday Aussies who tell their stories, and help them celebrate their differences.
Season two of ‘Concealed With Art Simone’ is available now on the iHeartPodcast Network, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. New episodes drop weekly every Tuesday.
This story originally appeared on our queer sister site, FROOTY.
