Ever since the modern iteration of Queer Eye
burst onto our screens in 2018, bubbly hairstylist
Jonathan Van Ness has been transforming lovable
schlubs into sleek gods and goddesses, always
while imbuing his subjects with the requisite
confidence required to pull off their new
looks.
"Like, professional-but-edgy."
"Like a gorgeous young mayor should!"
"Total transformation."
The frank and often hilarious reality star
just wrapped up his first-ever stand-up comedy
tour, The Road to Beijing, which saw Van Ness
regaling audiences with funny tales from his
childhood, demonstrating his impressive gymnastics
prowess, and even educating them on the surprising
correlation between U.S. politics and competitive
figure skating.
Meanwhile, a New York Times interview coinciding
with the release of his memoir, Over the Top,
revealed the unflappable Fab Five fave has
been silently battling with HIV for years.
Van Ness told Buzzfeed's AM to DM that letting
the world know was a relief, saying,
"Definitely a weight off my shoulders, but
also a big wake up call as far as the amount
of work that's still left to go, and the amount
of education that still needs to be shared."
He pointed to the "pervasive" and "worldwide"
stigma associated with those who are HIV positive,
and hoped the book continues to expand on
a much-needed conversation on the subject.
Van Ness also recently opened up to the New
York Times about his previous struggles with
drug addiction and sexual abuse, explaining
that he'd agonized over whether to come out
publicly about his HIV positive status since
gaining fame on Queer Eye.
With the show recently debuting its fourth
season, quickly followed by a four-part special,
We're In Japan!, on Netflix, the hairstylist
and amateur figure skater felt the time was
right to reveal himself as a, quote, "member
of the beautiful HIV-positive community."
Dishing about the show itself, Van Ness also
revealed to Buzzfeed his biggest Queer Eye
makeover regret: Ted Terry, the subject of
the second season's final episode, a 30-year-old
hipster mayor of a small Georgia town who
revealed he'd been growing his impressive
beard since Trump was elected president.
Controversially, Van Ness shaves Terry clean
during his makeover, which, the proud beard
aficionado now admits, he wasn't too on board
with doing, implying he received some pressure
from the producers.
"Let's make it a little less mountain man.
Yeah.
Let's do it."
Van Ness told Buzzfeed,
"I'll be honest: I never wanted to take that
beard off.
I was very pro-beard.
I was very pro–Resistance Beard.
I definitely got my little arm twisted on
that."
Terry himself told CityLab last year that
the show pushed for a big change, saying,
"Well, the show really wanted a transformation,
so I was happy to abide by a very stark contrast
from a beard that I had been growing out for
almost a year to being clean shaven.
[...]. I think I look a little young when
I'm clean shaven."
The young mayor added that he has since grown
his facial hair back, though he promised to
abide by Van Ness's grooming tips regardless,
and says he won't go, quote, "full mountain
man" again.
In response to the Queer Eye star's revelation
to Buzzfeed about the regrettable grooming,
Terry tweeted,
"Viva la #ResistanceBeard!"
In other JVN news, the reality star recently
found himself at the center of controversy
alongside his Queer Eye cast-mates when the
show returned to his hometown of Quincy, Illinois,
for a special episode focusing on his beloved
high school arts teacher, Cathy Dooley.
In an interview with the Guardian, Van Ness
revealed how a local pastor organized protests
over the Fab Five's visit, saying,
"He sent a letter to the newspaper that blasted
the normalization of LGBT culture, and said
we should not be rolling out the welcome mats
at a public school."
Rather than an isolated incident, Van Ness
feels this is symptomatic of our turbulent
times, admitting,
"I don't think we've come as far as I wished
and hoped that we had."
However, Van Ness credits all his hardships,
including the HIV diagnosis, with preparing
him to fight for what's right, acknowledging,
"I absolutely do not think I'd have been as
socially aware or conscious or want to make
as much of a difference.
It gave me a reason to really fight."
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