Alyson Court Reveals She Owns the Couch from “Big Comfy Couch —” But It Doesn't Fit in Her House (Exclusive)

The beloved former child star opens up to PEOPLE about her time as Loonette the Clown

• Alyson Court was working on Canada's Mr. Dressup when she met the creators of The Big Comfy Couch

• At 16, she helped with the pilot and at 18, she began shooting the beloved '90s children's series

• Alyson looks back at that time with PEOPLE and shares her biggest takeaways from her time as Loonette the Clown

When Alyson Court got her first gig as a child actress, she had no idea it was setting her on the path to becoming a childhood favorite, as well.

The Canadian-born actress, now 50, was one of a lucky few kids getting opportunities on the production scene in Toronto in the 1980s.

"In Toronto, there weren't a lot of professional kids in film and television at the time. It just so happened that I was going to a school for the arts. You had to audition to get in — very much like Fame, but for younger kids. It was a real dream come true," she tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.

When local productions needed child actors, they'd check the students at Court's school, which led to her going on some auditions and ultimately meeting agent Sandra Newton, who still represents her to this day.

"She signed me on and then that first year I was with her, I think I was in grade five, I did a bunch of commercials ended up doing a few episodes on TV shows. I did the [Sesame Street] Follow That Bird movie that summer, when I was 10 years old. And there was no looking back after that."

Court landed a spot on Mr. Dressup, which she describes as "Canada's Mister Rogers in many ways."

"I was working with Cheryl Wagner and Karen Valleau. They're also puppeteers, and Cheryl had just come up with and started the pitch package for The Big Comfy Couch," Court recalls. "I was 16 years old, and I think on the show, I had to tell a story. And Cheryl was like, 'She tells the story like I tell a story. Well, that's how I want [the character of] Loonette to be.' "

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Court noticed Wagner eyeing her, analyzing her while she took a break from a rehearsal. Soon, she introduced her to producer Rob Mills, who agreed Court was right for the role of Loonette the Clown. When they approached her to help with the pilot, she agreed.

"The show was sold and picked up, so the following year, they sent me to clown school for workshops in Philadelphia, which was phenomenal," Court shares. "Then the following year, the summer of 1992, we filmed the first episode for The Big Comfy Couch."

While she got to work on the blooming kids' series, she also worked on her voice acting career. Being able to have a life outside of the show helped Court feel less awkward about playing a child clown at the age of 18.

"I benefitted from timing," she explains. "There was no YouTube. There were no cell phone cameras. There was none of that stuff. The beauty of it was I got to have a real life outside of doing that show, so I got to go through my teenage years in my early 20s and have all of those experiences that I think are really, really important in those formative years."

At the time, the show was "just a job" to Court, but a year later, she recognized how it evolved into more.

"I started interacting with little children who loved the show. I understood the need to be on my best behavior, but there was still a great distance between doing the show and the impact that it was having on the world," she says.

Court notes a shift happened once The Big Comfy Couch began airing in the United States on PBS.

"One of the first things I did was go to the Easter Egg Roll at the White House in the spring of 1995. Hillary Clinton was the first lady and she had an early childhood literacy campaign going on, so she really liked the reading part of our show. So Loonette had been invited down to the South Lawn of the White House to read stories to the kids," she recalls.

"There were all these families running around. It's mayhem, and I was sitting there and where I was reading ended up being this lovely sort of safe oasis amidst the chaos," she continues. "Parents are shuffling kids around, and I was just sitting there with my book, and you'd see the kids spot me. They'd come sit down and tune out all of the noise, and it ended up being lovely."

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Court recalls the appearance as the last in which she had a degree of anonymity before the show really took off. Later that year, during an appearance at the Galleria Mall in Atlanta, "they had to sneak me through the crowd to get into the store. Once I was in, I found out there was a five-hour line of people who had taken over the mall just to see Loonette."

As she met with fans and their families and processed what the series meant to them, Court "started to realize the impact of the show."

"I remember thinking, 'This is something I need to have a responsibility for.' So I was always very aware whenever I was in public and in the costume of that representation for the show and the impact that it was having on people," she says.

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Shortly thereafter, Make-A-Wish reached out about an ailing child whose wish was to meet Loonette.

"That changed everything. That's a heavy thing. Once I got involved with a lot of charities, it sort of completely engulfed me," she says. "I would say it made me a better person, but it did take a toll, especially at that age. The charity stuff I've continued more than anything else."

Court developed a relationship with an organization called Dreams Take Flight, and says she continued to meet kids as Loonette "even long after I stopped doing the show."

But fan reactions of all stripes leave an impact on Court.

"It's interesting going to different conventions. I'll be there with my fellow voice actors from the original X-Men animated series, but I also have a photo of me as Loonette to let people know that's also something else that I did. When people see that, I would say about 40% will end up in tears," she says.

"They don't even know why they're having this emotional moment. They're like, 'I'm just having this childhood thing right now.' "

Court points out that many who attend these conventions and fan expos "are there for a thing they chose later on in life, as a tween or a teenager" without expecting to have a Big Comfy Couch moment, too.

"You don't always think about the early years, the preschool years, the things that were there first," she explains. "I think it's making people remember spending time with their parents or grandparents who are sometimes no longer with them. Occasionally, there will be an encounter where a parent will come up and say thank you, and their child has since passed, and it was their favorite show. It means a lot."

Her charity work as Loonette, which continues on to this day, has allowed her to keep hold of the character's costume. She also got an unexpected chance to own something else that was very special from that time.

"When the touring company that did the mall shows was done with Comfy Couch, they had paid for a lot of props to be built for their show and they were selling things off. A friend of mine who actually worked on that traveling show, they said to him, 'Do you want the couch for 100 bucks?' So, he instantly called me," she shares.

"And so he bought it off them and then I bought it off him. So I now have one of the couches, as well as a few other odds and ends."

There's just one problem ... it truly is a big comfy couch.

"I don't know that I could afford a house big enough for the couch," she says with a laugh. "It is conveniently one that comes apart and is easy to assemble because it was part of the traveling stage show, but it is currently sitting in my storage unit."

Court admits that it "can get pretty heady" to think about what an impact the show has had on so many.

"My husband wasn't really familiar with Comfy Couch. We went to St. John's, Newfoundland, for an appearance, and the whole town knew I was there. I'd warned him the night before, 'I don't think you fully grasp what you're about to experience. But you will. And you need to be prepared because there have been people in the past who kind of got overwhelmed by it.' "

The moment, which played out much like she imagined it would, speaks to "the lasting impacts" of the children's series.

"It's yearly, if not more frequently, that Loonette is in a meme or something comes up on Instagram or TikTok or Twitter and my feed will blow up. It's like a whole new batch of people are always discovering or remembering the show," she shares.

"A lot of the resurgence now is because people who grew up with this as one of their first shows now have children of their own. Nostalgia is really such a powerful thing. The demand for Comfy Couch is still incredibly strong and it's been fascinating to watch and meet people ... It's been wonderful. It's been feeding my soul because people are just so genuinely kind and they just want to express love and gratitude."

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She continues, "I have been so lucky to be part of numerous iconic franchises. At this point, it's been a wonderful ride and I've also had the blessing of being able to still keep my life my own. It's been a fascinating combination. I really thank everyone who's been a fan of properties that I've been a part of for both continuing to show their kindness and appreciation for what I worked on, but also for giving me my space and privacy."

Today, Court continues to work in children's television, having recently wrapped on a series called Let's Go Bananas, which she describes as "an animated preschool show that's comedy for little kids," in addition to the whimsical Canadian program Miss Persona (pictured) and stints on Blue's Clues & You and My Little Pony.

"I'm not really sure what's next," she admits, "but I'm enjoying taking time for conventions."

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