MTV VMAs 2019: Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness Says Karamo Brown Is 'Gonna Bring It' on DWTS
Jonathan Van Ness has high hopes that his Queer Eye costar Karamo Brown can waltz his way to a Dancing With the Stars win.
The grooming expert tells PEOPLE at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards red carpet that Brown’s dance moves are so impressive he should be crowned “the mayor of Rhythm Town.”
“I know that Karamo can dance, honey,” Van Ness says. “I think that he’s gonna bring it … He can really dance. I mean, watch our Lip-Sync Battle episode. He brings it when it comes to the choreo.”
While he promises to be one of Brown’s biggest fans, Van Ness does admit that his hectic schedule may prevent him from actually watching Brown, 38, compete.
“I’ll be on tour as soon as Queer Eye is over, my book’s coming out, so I’m going to be all over the place,” he says. “I mean, I really will not be in L.A. very much, so I’m going to have to like, FaceTime in or something.”
Brown, the culture expert on the Netflix series, was announced as a season 28 cast member on the ABC competition series last week.
While he initially expressed excitement over joining DWTS, he caught backlash strong enough to make him delete his Twitter account after he said he was looking forward to having “respectful conversations” with fellow contestant Sean Spicer.
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Spicer’s inclusion in the cast sparked outrage among fans, as the political aide was widely disgraced after he used the White House press podium to lie and attack journalists during his tenure. He resigned in 2017 after months of tension with President Donald Trump.
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“First, I have no say who is on the cast and didn’t find out till this morning that he is on!” Brown tweeted on Wednesday in response to a fan who said they were “disappointed” in Brown for “lending his celebrity to this.”
“But I’ll tell you this… I’m excited to sit down w/ him and engage in respectful conversations,” he continued. “Only way things get better is if we try to educate those who have different POV than us.”
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Brown and Spicer will join fellow stars like The Supremes’ Mary Wilson, The Bachelorette‘s Hannah Brown, supermodel Christie Brinkley, country star Lauren Alaina, actor James Van Der Beek, NFL legend Ray Lewis, The Office star Kate Flannery, pop star Ally Brooke, former basketball player Lamar Odom and comedian/actor Kel Mitchell.
The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards are airing live from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Monday, Aug. 26, at 8 p.m. ET.