All right, I'll say it. I don't watch Game of Thrones. I have no idea who Cersei is. I don't know why it matters that (SPOILER ALERT) Daenerys lost her whole damn mind on Sunday and dragoned everyone to death.
But you know what I do watch? Queer Eye. I watch it hard. I knew the day it was coming back to Netflix for Season 3, I guzzled down the first four episodes down like a redneck margarita and I haven't finished the season yet because it would hurt too much to see it end.
With that said, I am smack in the middle of the target audience for Gay of Thrones, Jonathan Van Ness' Funny or Die series in which he recaps the week's Game of Thrones episode with a celebrity guest. The conversation takes place in a hair salon, a nod to how the idea came about - and how Van Ness got his big break.
"I would not have experienced, like, any of the changes that my life has experienced if it wasn't for my friendship with Erin [Gibson, Gay of Thrones' executive producer], and if it wasn't for her seeing a potential in me that I never knew that I had," Van Ness recently told The Frame's John Horn.
Gibson explained the origins of the web series sensation that gifted JVN to the world: She was having her hair done by Van Ness at the salon where he worked as an assistant stylist, when she overheard him recapping Game of Thrones to another client.
"He kept calling Robert Baratheon 'she' and I just thought, 'This is really funny,'" said Gibson. "So I went into Funny or Die and I was like, 'Hey, I have an off-the-wall pitch. Can I bring my hairdresser who's never been on camera in here to recap this show?' And literally, this is the kind of place where they're just like, 'All right,' so we did it."
At the time, Van Ness was making minimum wage and chopping hair in relative anonymity. Now he is the audience favorite on a hit Netflix show, has 3.6 million Instagram followers and hosts a very successful podcast where he talks about politics.
In other words, we now have the pleasure of Jonathan Van Ness in all his glory as a result of a very L.A. meet cute.
Gay of Thrones begins with Game of Thrones' third season, and in the first episode, viewers are treated to a relatively short-haired, pre-Queer Eye JVN, who nevertheless is already using the word "fetch" to describe things that are good, as in, "I was kind of feeling that long hair on him. It was kind of fetch."
Now, Gay of Thrones - like Game of Thrones - is nearing the end. To recap its penultimate episode, Van Ness is joined by Tiffany Haddish (spoilers, of course, abound). Here you are:
And if you haven't already, we recommend you check out JVN's Instagram and Twitter feeds, where you can catch a glimpse of his v. impressive figure skating and gymnastics moves.
