Arts & Entertainment

Stylist Jonathan Van Ness Talks Chicago, Politics and Wigs Ahead of the First-Ever ‘Fab Five Live’ Tour

Stylist Jonathan Van Ness has been the guide to glamour through nine seasons of the Netflix series “Queer Eye.”

Van Ness is one of the Fab Five — a quintet of advisors who use humor and empathy as they apply their skill sets toward improving someone else’s life.

The Fab Five have met leaders at Capitol Hill about serious topics, and they have danced in music videos by Taylor Swift and Lizzo. They are serious purveyors of positivity.

Aside from “Queer Eye,” the 37-year-old Van Ness had a popular web series (“Gay of Thrones”) and wrote a memoir (“Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love”) and a kids book (“Peanut Goes for the Gold”). There are also podcasts, comedy tours and a hair care line at Sephora called JVN.

He grew up in Quincy, 300 miles southwest of Chicago, and comes from a prominent media family that dates to the 19th century in Illinois. In fact, Van Ness has roots in North America going back to the 1600s.

The new season of “Queer Eye” recently premiered, and now the Fab Five are going on their first-ever live tour, appearing Feb. 23 at the Chicago Theatre.

WTTW News spoke with Van Ness before the tour started. Van Ness dished and dazzled — and pulled no punches on the political front.

WTTW News: Jonathan, growing up in Quincy, Illinois, did you ever visit Chicago?

Jonathan Van Ness: Yes, I remember we went to many a Cubs game, and my auntie lived in Chicago for a few years. One of my fondest memories of Chicago is the Field Museum. When I was little that really blew my mind, and when I was 11 or 12 we went to Water Tower Place and there was that place on top where you could go to all those different booths that had like global-themed food. I think it was called Foodlife or something. Coming from Quincy that really blew my little mind. It was the best food I’d ever had.

Quincy’s just a train ride away from Chicago, so you can take a little daytrip if you wanted to. It’s a small town on the Mississippi River, and it has some of the nicest people. It also has its problems, but what place doesn’t? But yeah, it’s a really sweet place.

You would be great on ‘Finding Your Roots.’ Do you have a favorite PBS show?

Van Ness: Oh, I think ‘Antiques Roadshow.’ Such a classic and so emotional and unexpected. Wait, does ‘Downton Abbey’ count as PBS? I watched that every night. ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘The Gilded Age’ [HBO]. I don’t know what Julian Fellowes does to me. I think it’s the costuming and the hair. It’s catnip for me. I can’t turn it off.

You’ve met a lot of people. Anyone who really left you starstruck?

Van Ness: Vice President Kamala Harris really starstruck me, like proper and well. It was a very out-of-body experience for me.

But I think the most ultimate starstruck was [figure skater] Michelle Kwan. We became friends and we FaceTime, and I love her kid. It took me a full year and a half of being her friend to not look at her like this [astonished look] even in private. And she was just so patient with my, like, all-out fandom. Once you meet a person like that everything else becomes a little bit more doable. It’s like I hit the jackpot when I first went to the casino. Dang, well, what else am I gonna do?

The Fab Five from “Queer Eye.” (Courtesy of Netflix)

Turning to a serious topic — you identify as nonbinary, and the president of the United States signed an executive order stating that there are two sexes. How are you coping with a world that is seemingly becoming less tolerant?

Van Ness: I mean, … I’m really concerned. I keep thinking about when I grew up, and adults I trusted always saying that things are going to get better and that when you grow up it’s not going to be like this, and your generation is going to change everything. It’s just been quite alarming to see such regression within my generation and the generation after me. There’s no end to with which corruption and greed will not manipulate people.

And I don’t really fault that at the people. I think that’s one place where we’ve gone wrong. We have faulted Trump supporters so much — and I’m not saying we should give them a pass — but they’ve been exposed to really intense disinformation. If I had heard that people were cutting off kids’ private parts and doing all this stuff, I’d also have concerns. But they’re being exposed to massive amounts of misinformation that’s been de-contextualized and made to sound terrifying, when really, they’re just scapegoating trans people for all of these things that could never be our fault, such as inflation, discrimination, women’s safety. Those things are the fault of capitalism, corruption, greed and patriarchal tendencies that have been going on for hundreds of years.

I also am heartened and I do have hope because the queer community at large has also been exposed to this kind of toxicity for hundreds of years, and we have always been resourceful and resilient and banded together. We’ve always found a way. Any piece of paper that Trump signs with a Sharpie doesn’t change the fact that I’ve identified as nonbinary for the totality of my life, since I could speak, since I’ve been able to put words to my feelings, I’ve never really felt a part of men or women. I’ve never felt like I fit into the binary, and no matter what Donald Trump says, there will always be a difference between biological sex and gender expression. Those are not the same thing. That’s the way I feel about it, and no executive order changes how I feel or how I identify, and that’s how I would encourage other people to think about it.

Any advice for those outside of the queer community who want to offer support? What do you want to hear from them?

Van Ness: I think people who are not in the community need to realize — and this is something I’ve been saying for years — that this isn’t about support. This is about the erosion of your rights, too. This isn’t just about queer people and trans people. This is about the fact that in 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was based on the 14th Amendment, which is the expectation of your right to privacy. When that got overturned, the Supreme Court said, ‘No, you do not have a right to individual privacy. States have a right to enforce whatever health care, whatever policy they want to enforce.’

It’s going to police everyone. Our right to privacy, to make our own health care decisions, has been taken away. When I grew up the conservative thing was small, limited government and anti-government overreach. We now have this Republican administration and this MAGA movement saying that parental rights only apply to them, and in fact if you have a transgender child, you’re abusing that child by getting them gender-affirming health care, when really health care and gender expression is a private matter. It’s a family matter.

So I just think this whole notion that we need allies and we need straight people to support us — no, girl. You guys are under threat, too. Your ability to get health care is under threat, your ability to have a family the way that you want to have a family is under threat. This isn’t a trans and queer issue. This is about your ability to have privacy from a Christian-centric government — when our government is based on freedom of religion — and now we have a government that’s trying to force their religion and their way of life on all of us, while also saying don’t shove your way of life down our throat. That’s a really interesting place for us to be in, but there’s this idea that there’s a divide between straight and queer people, and there’s not. This tyranny is going to come for all of us.

Jonathan, I want to do a complete 180 and ask you a personal style question. Your hair — what will you do if your locks begin circling the drain?

Van Ness: I’ve thought about that, because genetically it’s probably going to happen to me. So I thought, would I buzz it all off and rock really fun wigs and sometimes be Mr. Clean — I wish there was the nonbinary version of Mr. or Mrs. — you know, a glossy head like Mr. Clean, but then have a lot of wigs to give a Kylie Jenner vibe? Like one day I’m long and dark brown and then I’m short and blonde. I think personally I’d get a little bored not having any hair on my head to style, so I think I’d have to throw a wig on there sometimes and play with it. But it’s also nice to have that versatility to throw a little sunscreen on your head and go out for the day.

As you can see, I’m bald and buzz my head. I thought about a wig, but I don’t know what my colleagues would think.

Van Ness: Try it! What would they do at PBS? Marc, don’t put your lack of trying on your co-workers. I think you should get yourself a little wig, f---ing throw it on there, and go work it, baby! Yes, I think they’d like it! They’d support!

The Fab Five from “Queer Eye.” (Courtesy of Netflix)

Talk about the live show that’s coming this weekend to the Chicago Theatre. What can people expect to see?

Van Ness: I’m excited. It’s going to be a time for us to connect with our community and get to know our audience better. It’s gonna have fun and entertaining visual elements. Comedian Michelle Collins is going to be there to host for the whole tour, and she’s just hysterical. It’s going to be the same way that ‘Queer Eye’ is — light and funny but still connects and there’s still heart and we can get into serious topics. We really want to bring that whole multitude to the show. And we’ll have special surprises, Q&As and fun and games. I wish it was a four-hour show so I could do a full color and cut transformation on someone backstage.

What is it like to have been thrust into the public eye, the public queer eye? Are there days when you’d just like to put on an old sweatshirt and go out and not be recognized?

Van Ness: I’m just so grateful. Truly, my dreams came true, so I think the days when I do want to put on that sweatshirt or I feel overwhelmed or bad about something I just remind myself that this is something that I’ve always wanted. I think my biggest goal is to try to make the world a better place for people like me and just for people generally. Getting to do that and getting to rub shoulders with the people that I’ve gotten to rub shoulders with is just incredible.

I’ve really been on a journey this last year. I realized that I was isolating myself because of my career, like I was letting that fear of being seen and being perceived — that I needed to be the JVN that everyone knows. I’ve really tried to let that go. Like if I’m going to group classes and my hair looks like s--t, I’m still going out. I’m never precious about how my hair looks on Instagram or social. I’m trying to live my life and embrace the multitudes of my life.

Hopefully my career keeps going and I get to keep doing comedy and ‘Queer Eye’ and writing and my podcast — all of which I’m just madly in love with. I love what I do, but there are times where I want to go to a small lake and grow a garden and just have my cats and dogs and not move for six months. But I know — and my husband and also my therapist says — that I’d miss my community. I’d miss my friends. It would be fun to have an extended break, but you know hair care — it doesn’t wait for nobody. You’ve got to do these formulas, you’ve got to test these products, you’ve got to show these girls how to curl their f---ing hair. But, yeah, I’m working on work-life balance.

“The Fab Five Live” will appear at the Chicago Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 23.

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Marc Vitali is the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation Arts Correspondent.

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