When it comes to facial hair, there is no greater artist than Jonathan Van Ness.
The Queer Eye grooming expert’s own mustache and beard have become instantly iconic during his tenure on the Netflix reboot, and he always knows how to bring the best out of other people’s facial hair. So when he spent time with David Letterman for My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, it was only right that he worked to tame the legendary host’s own magnificent “post-retirement” beard.
“Wow, Dave, Amelia Earhart could be in this tuft of hair, honestly,” Van Ness says as he combs through Letterman’s beard. “That is someone who looks like they are ready to sign the treaty at Fort Sumter, honey. Cute!”
When Letterman revealed that he only uses a bar of soap on his head and on the beard, Van Ness could only look at him in horror. He then proceeded to teach Letterman proper beard grooming technique (to which Letterman was a bit resistant — plus he literally tried to eat mustache wax at one point) and ended up making them both twirly mustache twins.
What started out as a funny beard grooming odd-couple moment turned surprisingly deep as the conversation turned towards mindful meditation, the art of interviewing, LGBTQ history and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity, and more. Check out the incredible conversation below:
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman season 2 is now streaming and Queer Eye season 4 premieres July 19 on Netflix.
Related content:
Queer Eye‘s Tan France makes over John Mulaney in first Dressing Funny web series
Queer Eye renewed for season 4 in Kansas City, season 5 in Philadelphia
Kanye West ‘opens up to David Letterman like you’ve never seen him’ in My Next Guest preview