About Jonathan
Who is Jonathan Van Ness?
"There is a diva in there, but all she needs is a little bit of a bold lip.'"
Jonathan Van Ness,
Queer Eye
Jonathan Van Ness burst onto the scene in 2013 with the three-time Emmy nominated web series Gay of Thrones, combining all of his favorite things in one place - hair, comedy, storytelling and The Khalessi (aka, Chistina Aguilera IYKYK).
This kick-started a career of exploring their deep curiosities about the world, beginning in 2015 with the long running and multi-award winning “Getting Better With Jonathan Van Ness” podcast. Amassing over 300 episodes, a Netflix series and multiple awards, the show brings experts, friends and leaders together weekly to discus everything from oceanography to the big O…the Olympics.
Jonathan joined the cast of Netflix’s 7 time Emmy Award-Winning reboot Queer Eye, taking their place in the new Fab Five as the show’s beauty & self-care expert in 2018 and garnering 4 nominations with their fellow hosts for Outstanding Host of a Reality or Competition Show.
The next year, their revelatory and critically hailed memoir, Over The Top: A Raw Journey To Self-Love was released - triple axeling its way to the New York Times Best-Seller list. Two more New York Times Best-Sellers would follow - Love That Story: Observations From A Gorgeously Queer Life (2022) and the young adult fiction novel Let Them Stare (2025) with co-writer and New York Times Best-Selling author Julie Murphy. He has also authored two children’s picture books, Peanut Goes For The Gold (2020) and Gorgeously Me! (2024).
While shooting Queer Eye, Jonathan realized another lifelong dream in 2021 with the launch of JVN Hair, a sustainable, cruelty-free and non-gendered line of hair care products that applied their professional expertise as a licensed cosmetologist while focusing on the themes of acceptance and equality by being built for everyone and every hair type.
As one of the most visible nonbinary media personalities, Jonathan uses their platform to raise awareness for a range of LGBTQ+ and HIV issues, working extensively on campaigns with The Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood, and Equality Texas in Austin. Their appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2019 to discuss their first book along with living with HIV and HIV stigma garnered a GLAAD Media Award for ‘Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode’ and in December of that year, Jonathan made history as the first non-female solo cover star of Cosmopolitan UK in 35 years.
His passionate advocacy for social justice, trans lives and elevating queer voices and experiences is baked into everything he does - from comedy to haircare. And like a good stretch before a solid back hand spring, he’s just getting warmed up.
What JVN Cares About
Jonathan is passionate about issues that impact intersectional communities. From LGBTQIA+ liberation, to inclusive beauty, defunding the police, expanding the HIV social safety net, sustainably, environmental causes, and animal welfare. With such an expansive world, Jonathan loves supporting a multitude of mutual aid and impact organizations like some of these mentioned here.
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