The 31-year-old hairdresser emotionally tells ET this has been 'the most incredible, amazing day.'
Jonathan Van Ness "can't even."
The 31-year-old hairdresser-turned-TV star was full of emotion on Thursday when it was revealed that his popular Netflix show, Queer Eye, and Funny or Die's parody web series, Gay of Thrones, both received 2018 Emmy nominations.
Queer Eye -- which also stars Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Tan France and Karamo Brown -- was nominated in the Structured Reality Program, Cinematography, Casting and Editing for a Reality Program categories, while Gay of Thrones received a nomination for Outstanding Variety Series Short.
Just moments after the reveal, ET caught up with Van Ness over the phone, who couldn't contain his excitement over the exciting news, sharing a hilarious story about how he passed the time with his Queer Eye co-stars leading up to the nominations ceremony.
"I didn't want to think about anything. I was, like, really scared," the hair guru admitted. "I was just like, 'OK, Serena Williams is playing in Wimbledon today. Let me just focus on Serena. I'm looking for a win for her.' She secured that win, and I was like, 'Oh my god, it's 10:30 a.m., like, let's run downstairs and watch."
"I'm just so excited and really grateful," he raved, getting emotional. "I can't hear it said back to me and not cry. As a group, we're just all so proud. This has been the most incredible, amazing day. I'm over the moon."
The four nominations for Queer Eye come 14 years after the original series, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, won its first Emmy for Best Reality Show. Van Ness admitted that when he first signed on for the reboot, he had "no idea" how successful it would be in just two short seasons.
"Having the original cast's support and their blessing has been amazing," he said, adding that it's also "just so incredible" to see the amount of diversity displayed in this year's nominations, giving specific praise to RuPaul's Drag Race.
As for Gay of Thrones, Van Ness is an executive producer on the parody series, which received its first nomination in 2016. And while the nod was certainly exciting two years ago, Van Ness says he's happy he can truly celebrate the nomination this time around.
"I'm a hairdresser, and Gay of Thrones was my first introduction to comedy, and what writing is, what performing is and what creating content is," he explained. "I've just fallen in love with this industry that I never thought I'd be a part of."
"But when Gay of Thrones first got nominated, I wasn't a producer on it," he added. "I didn't understand all of that, that you need to call yourself a producer to be a producer, so I didn't technically get nominated the first time, so that was an interesting experience. To have my name on there, as an executive producer, this time, it's just extra special. We've worked so hard. It's just blown me away."
When asked what an Emmy win would mean for him (and both casts of Queer Eye and Gay of Thrones), he said he "can't even go there."
"I'm so honored to just be nominated," he said. "And to be able to have this platform to be visible for other people that see themselves in me, and identify with me in any way. And not just with me, but also Antoni, Tan, Bobby and Karamo, and everyone that's made Queer Eye a reality. To be recognized at all, we've already won."
Of course, there will be lots of celebrating for Van Ness tonight. But what, exactly, does that entail?
"I don't know what we're going to do yet, but I'm going to do a gorgeous face mask," he joked. "I definitely want to keep the skin looking right. We have some werk to do now, and I'm excited!"
Check out the full list of nominees and follow ET’s ongoing Emmy coverage here.
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