PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Wanda Sykes opened up on various aspects of her life in an interview as her new Netflix special, 'I'm an Entertainer', recently dropped. She has spoken up about her personal life, including her marriage to Alex Sykes, a French woman. She also spoke about laws banning trans women from women’s bathrooms, Dave Chappelle, and being called a "woke comic."
In the Netflix special, Wanda is seen imitating her wife in a faux French accent, always pretending to have a cigarette in her hand. On being asked if Alex is really always smoking in real life, Wanda told, "No, that’s the thing. When I first started doing her on stage, I would say at the end, “Oh, by the way, my wife doesn’t even smoke. This is just how I see her.” I didn’t do it this in the special, so she’s like [in a French accent, pretending to hold a cigarette], “Everybody thinks I smoke now! Everybody’s asking me, ‘Alex, when did you start smoking?’” When I talk like her, I just happen to do it," as per Variety.
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On being asked how aware Alex is of what she would be saying about her onstage, Wanda said, "She’ll come out to a show as I’m working on it. And she’ll comment [cigarette in hand], “Ooo, I like that you talk about me.”
Who is Alex Sykes?
Alex Sykes, whose maiden name is Alex Niedbalski, is from France. Wanda and Alex have raised their twins to speak both French and English. Wanda revealed that she first noticed Alex on a ferry ride to Fire Island in New York. Alex's Instagram bio reads, "Working Mom living the French-American dream with my hilarious comedian wife!!" She has 103K followers on the social media platform.
Alex and Wanda exchanged vows on October 25, 2008, keeping their marriage private until Wanda came out publicly. It was reported that the ceremony was not attended by Wanda’s conservative Christian parents.
'Look at me parenting and being caring about something else'
Alex gave birth to fraternal twins, a boy, and a girl, in 2009, and the pair seem to love being parents. Wanda previously told what she likes most about being a mom.
"I guess it takes you out of yourself, you know, just to be able to just love something so much and just want to be there and take care of them and not worry about yourself. It’s just good to know that I have that capability. You know, it’s like, oh, I could do this. I thought I was so self-absorbed, but this is – wow," she told NPR's Terry Gross.
"Look at me. Look at me parenting and being caring about something else, you know, other than myself. Yeah, it’s just beautiful. And they – yeah. I’ve just learned a lot about myself," Wanda added.
