Jonathan Van Ness

Growing up openly gay in Illinois at the turn of the millennium, Jonathan Van Ness dealt with his fair share of homophobia and hate, but he also had his triumphs, becoming the first male cheerleader at his high school and carrying that to a college scholarship at the University of Arizona. That didn't last, though, as he didn't even make it a year before dropping out of school to study hairstyling instead. Eventually, Van Ness made the move to Los Angeles in 2009, working at various salons until opening up his own a few years later.

His personality shined through his work, which eventually led him to working with Erin Gibson of Funny or Die, a client of his, on a web series of "Game of Thrones" recaps entitled "Gay of Thrones" (2013- ). It quickly took off, notching a pair of Emmy nominations in the process. He also made an appearance on the miniseries "I Love the 2000s" (VH1 2014). 2015 saw the launch of the podcast Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, a biweekly show where Van Ness talked with experts about a variety of subjects ranging from religion to politics. In 2018, he joined the revival of "Queer Eye" (Netflix 2018- ) as the grooming expert. Van Ness quickly became one of the rebooted show's breakout stars. In June 2019, Van Ness identified as non-binary in gender, and appeared with his fellow members of the "Fab 5" in Taylor Swift's video for anti-bullying anthem "You Need To Calm Down."