Jonathan Van Ness is part of the Fab Five in Netflix's big hit Queer Eye where he appears as the grooming expert! The television personality rose to fame after appearing in the reality television series alongside Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Tan France.
Together they help men and women who need their lives to be a little bit more organized in terms of fashion, grooming, interior design, culture, and food. Born and raised in Quincy, Illinois, the fantastic Jonathan Van Ness has appeared in more than 20 television shows in the past two years! But what was his life like before being so famous? Let's find out!
Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness: This is his life before fame
Jonathan Van Ness comes from a family of journalists. He attended Quincy Senior High School where he was the first male cheerleader. Later on, he continued cheerleading at the University of Arizona, where he got a degree in political science, eventually finding out hair-styling was his true passion.
Jonathan was then trained at the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, following his graduation he worked in Arizona for a couple of years and eventually moved to Los Angeles where he started working as a personal assistant at Sally Hershberger Salon. Before starring in Queer Eye, he appeared in the 2014 miniseries I Love the 2000s. You are probably familiar with his web series Gay of Thrones, but did you know he has been hosting it since 2013?
Jonathan Van Ness struggled with drug addiction
Jonathan Van Ness's professional career is certainly outstanding. It's unfortunate however that his personal life was not very good at some point. The Queer Eye star has revealed he struggled with drug addiction and experienced bullying when he was younger; he even received death threats for being openly gay and feminine throughout his life. Jonathan recently opened up about how he was sexually molested during his childhood and about how he found out he was HIV-positive after fainting while doing highlights for a client's hair back in 2012.
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Five quick facts about Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye's grooming expert
- He has said he uses humor as a coping mechanism in response to the bullying he experienced. He decided to open up about his personal problems because he wants people to realize "you’re never too broken to be fixed"
- He defines himself as gender non-conforming, and non-binary, due to the fact he considers he doesn't match masculine or feminine gender norms
- Jonathan currently works at MoJoHair and Stile Salon, both located in Los Angeles
- His psoriasis skin condition made him a skincare expert! He frequently advises clients and Queer Eye guests on skincare products and treatments
- He frequently shows on Instagram how optimistic he is and encourages people to stay positive! Also... he looks STUNNING at red carpet events!
