24 Moments Jonathan Van Ness' New Netflix Series Made Me Laugh, And 16 Times It Made Me See Things Differently
Note: This post includes a brief mention of an eating disorder and depression.
Queer Eye cast member Jonathan Van Ness wears a lot of hats – he's a reality TV star, an expert hairstylist and hair business owner, a podcaster, and a constant source of fashion inspiration.
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He pretty much does it all!
Jonathan can officially add TV host to that list, since his new series, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, was released on Netflix on Jan. 28.
Jonathan explores a wide variety of subjects in the series, like skyscrapers, snacks, and bugs. The show is a great combo of Jonathan's humor and curiosity – you'll walk away having laughed and gained a lot of knowledge too!
These are some funny moments from the series, and some informative lessons that were shared:
1.Made me laugh: When Jonathan's inner angel and inner devil argued over whether bugs are gorgeous or gross.
The age-old debate.
2.Made me think: When Jonathan got an up-close-and-personal look at insects from entomologist Dr. Jessica Ware.
Fun fact: After mating, a queen termite will store sperm and "just [become] an egg factory," Ware said. A queen termite can't feed or groom after this, so other termites that are workers will take of her and protect her from danger.
3.Made me laugh: When Jonathan was honest about his attitude toward spiders.
4.Made me laugh: When Jonathan reacted candidly to hearing the diet of a centipede.
5.Made me laugh: When Jonathan conquered his fear of spiders with the help of a reality TV reference.
6.Made me laugh: When Jonathan made the case for bug movies after getting inspired by insect expert Frank Somma.
7.Made me laugh: When Jonathan and Rachel Dratch recreated the construction site of the Empire State Building, but Jonathan's focus was elsewhere.
8.Made me laugh: When Jonathan made it through some height fears at the Edge at Hudson Yards observation deck.
The fear was understandable – Carol Willis, the founder and director of the Skyscraper Museum, said it's the highest outdoor platform observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. Jonathan was shown around the Edge by Willis, who walked across this transparent glass flooring with him.
9.Made me think: When Jonathan learned some history about the Empire State Building.
Willis said it only took 13 months for crew members to construct the iconic building. An addition of about four and a half floors per week was achieved by the construction crew, with a final tally of 102 floors.
10.Made me think: When Jonathan was taught the backstory of how One World Trade Center was built after 9/11.
Partners of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Chris Cooper and Ken Lewis, taught Jonathan about the architectural engineering process involved in skyscraper projects.
Lewis also discussed One World Trade Center being built after 9/11. By Oct. 16, 2001, the owner of the Twin Towers initiated a meeting to start planning the site's new project, saying, "It's so important that we get going on this because everybody's looking to us." One World Trade Center is 1,776 feet high, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Pieces of the old World Trade Center are underneath the structure and included in the building, Lewis also said.
11.Made me laugh: When Jonathan found the right moment to work in a Zoolander line.
12.Made me laugh: When Jonathan was extremely thankful to make it through an elevator ride at a skyscraper construction site.
Only a construction worker who was outside the elevator was able to operate it, so Jonathan had some nerves about the ride.
During the visit to the site, he learned that on the daily, anywhere from 600 to 650 workers may be present to assist in constructing the skyscraper, which is planned to be 60 stories tall.
13.Made me laugh: When Jonathan's inner Elle Woods emerged upon meeting attorney Paula Segal.
14.Made me think: When Jonathan heard from Segal how skyscrapers could impact neighborhoods in the future.
Segal said that "for-profit, speculator-driven developers" want to add four more skyscrapers to a section of Manhattan, which would add "mostly unregulated" units that "would absolutely destroy the fabric of [the] neighborhood" and limit its amount of middle and low-income residents.
"Nobody is saying no skyscrapers ever again, they're really saying that there has to be meaningful community involvement when it comes to new developments," Jonathan later said. "There has to be a diverse group of people from the community in the room where these decisions are being made around how these skyscrapers will be built."
15.Made me laugh: When the design for Jonathan's skyscraper concept was revealed by Nathan Lee Graham, and he kept the Zoolander references going.
16.Made me laugh: When Jonathan's favorite figure skater, Michelle Kwan, made an appearance on the show and inspired him to get on the ice.
Kwan encouraged Jonathan to teach viewers about figure skating so that they too could learn to love the sport.
17.Made me laugh: When Jonathan was willing to bet on his ability to spread his love of figure skating to viewers, but Netflix had to pull in the reins a little bit.
18.Made me think: When Jonathan and his skating coach, Eliot Halverson, went over figure skating jumps.
Thanks to Jonathan and Eliot, I now know that there are six kinds of jumps in figure skating: the toe loop, the salchow, the loop, the flip, the lutz and the axel.
19.Made me laugh: When Jonathan remained optimistic while trying to complete an axel.
Jonathan may not have landed an axel, but he was pretty close! A for effort!
20.Made me laugh: When Jonathan was on a mission to learn more about the figure skating scoring system.
Figure skating judge Shawn Rettstatt explained to Jonathan that the International Judging System evaluates all elements of a skater's performance, like "the connecting steps, ... jumps, spins, lifts, turns" and more.
21.Made me think: When Gracie Gold opened up about how competitive figure skating impacts the mental health of skaters.
Gold previously publicly opened up about her mental health, specifically how she went through depression and an eating disorder. She recently returned to the ice with a performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
22.Made me think: When Jonathan and Eliot addressed figure skating's prejudiced history and Eliot discussed her optimism that the sport can evolve moving forward.
23.Made me think: When Jonathan met with leaders who are paving the way for diversity in figure skating.
Joel Savary of Diversify Ice and Sharon Cohen of Figure Skating in Harlem both lead programs that provide opportunities for figure skaters of color. Savary additionally cited the Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Fund, which financially benefits talented Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) skaters, as a positive contribution from U.S. Figure Skating.
24.Made me think: When Jonathan went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to learn some hair history.
Aude Semat, an associate curator from the Met, showed Jonathan an Egyptian wig that's over 3,000 years old. She said that the Egyptians would often use human hair for their wigs, but sometimes used palm tree fibers or linen threads in their wigs. These wigs represented a person's rank in the ancient Egyptian culture.
Another fun fact: Art historian Dr. Kathryn Calley Galitz taught Jonathan that there were barbershops in ancient Rome where men could get a haircut.
25.Made me laugh: When Jonathan tried for a Rapunzel moment with Lea DeLaria.
26.Made me laugh: When Jonathan had some fun with wigs.
This proves that Jonathan can pull off any look.
27.Made me think: When U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley opened up to Jonathan about her hair journey and introduction of the CROWN Act.
"I looked in the mirror and I felt like I met myself fully for the first time. I had these waist-length Senegalese twists, and I loved them," Pressley said of the braids she had before alopecia. "What I saw in the mirror was in alignment with my soul and I felt powerful and beautiful. And then I started receiving all these notes and posts and emails from people about what it meant to them that I was in this position and wearing my hair in this ethno-Afrocentric pride."
She later was diagnosed with alopecia and has learned to embrace not wearing a wig, saying to Jonathan, "It just felt like the kind of armor I didn't want to put on."
Pressley introduced the CROWN Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020, which "prohibit[s] discrimination on the basis of natural hair as a form of race or national origin discrimination." Although it failed to pass in the Senate, portions of its provisions have become law by being included in other bills.
28.Made me think: When Jonathan and author and artist, Alok, discussed the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.
"Why should it require bravery to actually live life on our own terms? We exist, and that's not political, it's factual. We exist, and that's natural," Alok added.
29.Made me think: When Geo Neptune spoke about their Two-Spirit identity and how everyone has their own unique balance of masculine and feminine energy.
Neptune, the first openly transgender person to be elected in Maine, told Jonathan about the Wabanaki culture's story of creation, which includes the creation of the first Wabanaki man, woman, and Two-Spirit person.
30.Made me laugh: When Jonathan pulled himself together as he modeled for designer Christian Siriano and activist and model Nala Toussaint.
31.Made me think: When Nala talked about her hopes for the future of representation across the gender spectrum.
32.Made me think: When gender-nonconforming activist Joshua Allen discussed their experiences, and how marginalized transgender and nonbinary people must be acknowledged.
"We really have to bring into the center trans and nonbinary people, but we've got to think about it a little further," Allen said during a group discussion. "Who were the people that were most impacted [by discrimination] is people who were poor and working class. It's people who were darker-skinned. It's people who come from rural areas. We have to think about, how can we center those who are most marginalized in our community?"
33.Made me laugh: When Jonathan spoke of his lifelong love of snacks.
34.Made me laugh: When Jonathan got a behind-the-scenes look at how powdered donuts, one of his favorite snacks, are made at the Entenmann's factory.
35.Made me laugh: When Jonathan couldn't help but sneak a donut at the factory.
36.Made me laugh: When this factory visit inspired Jonathan to have an I Love Lucy moment with his Queer Eye castmate, Antoni Porowski.
37.Made me think: When Jonathan did a taste test with flavor chemist Dr. Arielle Johnson.
Johnson said that there are five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, and most flavor actually comes from our sense of smell, not taste. Jonathan plugged his nose to see if he could correctly guess the jelly bean he was eating, but he guessed the wrong flavor, proving the validity of this fact.
38.Made me laugh: When Jonathan had a tough spelling bee word to tackle.
Azodicarbonamide is FDA-approved as both a dough conditioner for baking bread and a cereal flour whitening agent. It's also a little tough to spell offhand.
39.Made me think: When Jonathan discovered what sugar does to the brain.
Research neuroscientist Dr. Nicole Avena shared that when we eat sugar, our dopamine system becomes compromised. As less dopamine is released, we then end up craving and consuming more sugar to chase the positive feelings of a dopamine release.
40.And, lastly, made me laugh: When Jonathan gave half an Oreo to his buddy, Jonathan Van Mouse, who was less than impressed with the offer.
Me after watching these episodes and immediately wanting more:
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-The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text “NEDA” to 741741.
-Peer-support services are available at the Trans Lifeline. You can call the hotline at (877) 565-8860.
-If you or someone you know has experienced anti-LGBTQ violence or harassment, you can contact the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs hotline at 1-212-714-1141.
-The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
