Jonathan Van Ness was born March 28, 1987 and is an American hairdresser, podcaster, and television personality. He is widely known for his role as the grooming expert on the Netflix series Queer Eye, for his work on the web series parody Gay of Thrones and for his role as host on the podcast Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.
Ness was born and raised in Quincy, Illinois. In a November 2018 tweet, he said that he comes from a family of journalists, that he is the 6th generation of a family owned newspaper. This was in reference to broadcast and newspaper conglomerate Quincy Media and the company’s local flagship newspaper, the Herald-Whig; Ness’s mother is the vice president of Quincy Media, and he is a descendent of the Oakley family which has controlled the company since the 1890s.
Openly gay throughout his life, Van Ness experienced bullying and received death threats. In response, he used humor as a coping mechanism and relied on a small group of close friends for support.
Van Ness was the first non-female cheerleader at Quincy Senior High School and was a cheerleader in college.
He attended the University of Arizona, majoring in political science — becoming addicted to drugs, letting his grades fall and losing his cheerleading scholarship. He dropped out after one semester, to pursue hairstyling.
Van Ness trained at the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis. After graduating, he worked in Arizona for five years, before moving to Los Angeles, California in 2009.
When he arrived in Los Angeles, he found a job as a personal assistant at Sally Hershberger Salon. Van Ness currently works at MoJoHair and Stile Salon, both in Los Angeles, which he co-founded with Monique Northrop at Arte Salon in New York City.
In 2013, while dressing the hair of friend Erin Gibson — who worked for the comedy syndicate Funny or Die—Van Ness was asked by Gibson to perform his recap of a Game of Thrones episode for Funny or Die, which became the Gay of Thrones web series.
Since 2015, Van Ness has hosted the weekly podcast Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness. His podcast took off upon the airing of the first Queer Eye episode.
He currently works in Los Angeles and New York City. He has psoriasis, a chronic skin condition, and advises clients on skin care.
Van Ness is non-binary. His preferred gender pronouns are he/him/his, but he has indicated that he is okay being referred to with she/her or they/them as well. In a 2019 interview with The New York Times he revealed a history of drug addiction issues, childhood sexual abuse, and his HIV-positive diagnosis at age 25.
On September 25, 2019, Van Ness announced his endorsement of Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020 based upon healthcare being a human right.
Van Ness currently stars as the grooming expert on the Netflix revival of Queer Eye. He appeared in Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” music video.
