De Pere native Jack Janowicz is among 18 suitors looking for love on reality dating show ‘Vanjie: 24 Hours of Love’ – Green Bay Press Gazette
Jack Janowicz likes to think of “Vanjie: 24 Hours of Love” as “kind of like the gay ‘Bachelor’ with a twist.”
The De Pere native is one of 18 perspective suitors vying for the affections of drag queen Miss Vanjie in the new reality dating show from the producers of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The twist? It all unfolds in just 24 hours in a Los Angeles mansion, where one person is eliminated each hour.
“24 Hours of Love” premieres today on streaming service WOW Presents Plus, and while Janowicz can’t get into specifics about what viewers will see over the eight episodes that were filmed last year, he can offer a pretty good teaser about the thrill of being part of it.
“It was a wild experience to say the least,” he said. “… We didn’t know exactly what was happening until we got there. When they kind of explained to us one of you is going to be going home every hour on the hour, I think it made all of us kind of tense up and be like, ‘Wait, we’ve been here not even an hour and somebody’s already about to go home?’
“That kind of intensity, walking on eggshells, kind of continued throughout, and a whole slew of things happened in the whole 24 hours — crazy, fun, exciting, emotional, nerve-racking, anxious moments.”
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Janowicz, who moved to Los Angeles in 2014 after making it as far as Hollywood Week on “American Idol” the same year, sent in his audition video after seeing an ad on Instagram looking for gay single men interested in a unique style of dating experiment. He was excited when the got the call to advance in the casting process, but the format of the show remained something of a mystery.
While he was familiar with Miss Vanjie’s name from her participation on Seasons 10 and 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” he couldn’t put a face to it. His knowledge of the Emmy Award-winning drag queen competition was limited to mostly viral moments and online clips.
“I think every gay person might come for me in the community when I say that I wasn’t an avid ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ watcher,” Janowicz said.
Lack of “Drag Race” insider knowledge aside, he thinks his personality served him well on the show.
“I think I’m a very what-you-see-is-what-you-get person, and I’m not good at pretending to be anything else. I think if you can sit down and have a conversation with me, I can get out the gist of who I am as a person pretty quickly,” Janowicz said. “I think I’m confident, and I think if given the chance, I can show that, you know, I might be worthy of a second date or a third or a little more.”
There was also an opportunity to get to know the 17 other “24 Hours of Love” men — a group that includes an accountant, men’s lingerie entrepreneur, a porn actor and former Cirque du Soleil performer. Janowicz works full time as a licensed court stenographer with a side hustle performing in a show at Disneyland.
Whatever preconceived notions he had about the other suitors quickly dissipated once they got together in person and were able to get to know each other beyond social media. They had meaningful conversations and realized they all shared similar experiences. Friendships were formed.
“I think I expected one thing and kind of got another,” Janowicz said.
He’ll be watching the episodes for the first time along with viewers and hopes the positive experience he had on the show comes through. He went in hoping not to just win but “knowing I can’t be anything but myself, my true, authentic self, and especially when it comes to love and dating you don’t want to try to put on a show or try to be anyone that you’re not.”
It’s in stark contrast to his other foray into reality TV in 2014, just a year after graduating from De Pere High School. He wasn’t yet out as a gay person when he auditioned for “American Idol” and was, he said, trying to be something he wasn’t. It was a different time in his life, but that experience made him more excited for this one.
“I can just be myself and have fun and I don’t have to worry about trying to talk a certain way or act a certain way,” he said. “I’m Jack and I’m gay and I’m proud of it.”
Contact Kendra Meinert at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.