Yahoo News Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz Are Ready to Address the Biggest Misconceptions About Glee
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Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz are more than ready to dive back into the world of Glee. And with that, the two stars know that doing so will require them to reflect on some of the misconceptions — both on and off screen — that have swirled around the series.
McHale, 34, and Ushkowitz, 36, debuted their new podcast, And That's What You REALLY Missed, with iHeartRadio on Monday. Stealing inspiration from the show's iconic opening recap line for its title, the project will allow the duo to revisit the series as they rewatch all six seasons of the beloved show.
This podcast also reunites McHale and Ushkowitz as co-hosts after they previously worked on the recap podcast Showmance, in which they also delved into their bond during and since the show's run on Fox from 2009 to 2015.
As Ushkowitz exclusively tells PEOPLE, the pair "really want to dig a little bit deeper this time."
"I think the thing that we want to do differently this time is really kind of dig into what was going on in the world as well, in pop culture, in politics, in the ways that I think the writers were probably inspired and impacted to write for the show," says Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang. "Gay marriage was just being legalized. We had the first Black president. It was a really inspiring time in many ways."
She teases, "We're definitely going to have a lot of Glee alums. We're going to have some behind-the-scenes crew people as well."
In fact, the podcast even welcomed series co-creator Ryan Murphy for it premiere episode. "It was a dream come true," Ushkowitz says. "You don't really hear him talk about Glee all that much anymore."
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Beyond its impact for addressing hot-button social issues including sexuality, teen pregnancy and suicide, the Emmy-winning series has also garnered attention in recent years for some alums' off-screen drama and for the "crazy" fan theories that have sprung up on social media.
Ushkowitz confirms that the pair intend to address "all of it."
"We definitely want to debunk some of that crazy TikTok conspiracies, like Lea [Michele] can't read and the Glee curse or why we hate [when] people say that," she says. "We definitely want to kind of jump into all of that."
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Looking back on the series, McHale insists that the positive moments ultimately outweighed the negative ones. And the cast and crew have certainly endured a lot, from the sudden deaths of three cast members to tension among costars.
"Actually, I think Jenna said this. She said, 'For every one bad or negative thing that happened, there were a hundred positive and joyful things that happened,'" the actor, who played Artie Abrams, tells PEOPLE.
"I think that's probably the biggest misconception that I know for media and social media, it's really easy to latch on to negative, juicy things," he says. "But it was the experience for most of us, most of the time, [it] was such the opposite of that."
McHale says the cast "didn't necessarily share that at the time, because we were just working and very, very protective of each other."
"I think just being able to look back, it's sort of like, if you can look back at high school or college. You look back on that experience in your life, whatever it may be, and you're like, 'Oh, you know what? It was an incredible learning experience for myself. I made a lot of incredible friends," he adds. "And I think that the biggest thing for us is to be able to look back on it in a positive way."
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iHeartRadio is dropping new episodes of And That's What You REALLY Missed weekly across multiple podcast platforms.
