Interview: Jonathan Van Ness Of 'Queer Eye' On Overcoming Trauma

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News, Religion & Spirituality, News Commentary, Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2019

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

Jonathan Van Ness stepped into the spotlight in 2018 as a walking, talking bundle of energy, optimism and fierceness on the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye. But in his new memoir, Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, Van Ness writes about how life wasn't always like that for him. He recounts growing up and dealing with hardships such as childhood trauma, depression, drug use, sexual compulsion, being diagnosed HIV-positive and more. Van Ness spoke to Sam Sanders about why he decided to write about it all, how he's dealt with troubling moments in his life and how Queer Eye has changed things. This episode includes discussion of sensitive topics and language that some listeners may find offensive.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey y'all from NPR, I'm Sam Sanders, it's been a minute.
0:08.5	I am very excited about today's episode.
0:11.0	It is a wide-ranking interview with the one, the only Jonathan Van Ness.
0:16.5	You probably know Jonathan as the grooming expert on the Netflix makeover show, Queer Eye.
0:21.6	It's almost like the reverse of I woke up like this, like did anyone ever wake up like
0:26.6	this?
0:27.6	There's no excuse for you to not have some face wash, actually the way that he is is great
0:33.0	and it looks amazing.
0:34.0	Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
0:38.4	On that show he is a walking, talking bundle of energy and optimism and fierceness and
0:43.9	high fashion.
0:45.6	But things weren't always like that for him.
0:47.8	Jonathan's out with a new book, a memoir that talks about his life before Queer Eye, when
0:52.8	things weren't as bright.
0:54.4	This book is called Over the Top, A Raw Journey to Self Love.
0:58.0	And in this book Jonathan Van Ness covers a lot of ground.
1:01.1	He writes about childhood trauma, disordered eating, depression, drug use, sexual compulsion,
1:07.3	and a lot more.
1:08.5	History ultimately is very inspiring.
1:11.4	Listeners, as it heads up, we get into a lot of stuff that is pretty heavy and sensitive.
1:16.4	Drugs, sex, trauma may not be the best chat for kids to hear.
1:20.4	Okay, here is our chat.
	...

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