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Jonathan Van Ness ‘MY LIFE IS LIKE A DREAM’

THE QUEER EYE ICON IS COMING DOWN UNDER – AND HE’S BRINGING HIS LIFE STORY AND FABULOUS GYMNASTICS ROUTINE WITH HIM

When Queer Eye’s hair pro Jonathan Van Ness visits Australia in September for his Imaginary Living Room Olympian comedy tour, we’re going to be sitting front and centre. The hairdresser turned TV star has experienced, done and seen a lot in his 35 years, and celebrates surviving a substance addiction in his 20s to getting married and living his dream in his 30s.

Here, he chats to WHO about what we can expect from his stand-up show. “I talk about marriage, love and passion, and queer joy – it’s kind of irreverent and a little provocative. It’s really fun, and it’s for everyone,” he says.

Tell us, are you an actual gymnast? Because you’ve got moves.

I mean, I can technically do flips. I was a cheerleader in high school. From 15 to 17, I did cheerleading, and then I was kicked off my college team for bad grades. I thought my gymnastics days were behind me.

How did it all kick off again?

I started doing stand-up when I got into. In 2018 I was like, “Do you guys want to see me do a backflip?” In front of 2000 people in Portland. They said, “No! Don’t do it!” I was like, “I got this!” So something I used to do once a year as a party trick turned into me doing it