Jonathan Van Ness ‘Almost Got Gout’ by Eating ‘So Much Crab Legs’ During Queer Eye Season 9 in Las Vegas (Exclusive)

Jonathan Van Ness fueled up for Queer Eye season 9 in a “shellfish” way.

When the grooming guru, 37, on the Netflix series wasn’t helping heroes with life-changing transformations, Van Ness tells PEOPLE they were consuming a concerning amount of crab legs while filming in Las Vegas.

“I ate so much crab legs in Las Vegas that I almost got gout,” Van Ness says of their food obsession during season 9, which premieres Dec. 11.

“I had to talk to my doctor about it because I became really obsessed with Alaskan king crab legs and snow crab legs,” adds the Getting Curious podcast host, who had surgery for an undisclosed medical issue in 2023.

The Mayo Clinic describes gout as “a common and complex form of arthritis,” which can be acquired if someone consumes too much purine-rich drinks or foods — like seafood —  that increase uric acid levels.

“I was ordering crab legs like Bethenny Frankel to salons and eating buttered crab legs out of plastic bags outside of salons in Vegas heat at noon,” Van Ness says, referencing Frankel’s love of seafood boils.

Another thing Van Ness confesses they did a lot while filming the new season of the unscripted show was wear green eye shadow. 

Aside from potential appearances from crab legs and green eye shadow, Season 9 of Queer Eye will feature a new cast member — with interior design expert Jeremiah Brent replacing the departing Bobby Berk, who previously handled home renovations since the show relaunched in 2018.

Ahead of filming the new season, fashion guru Tan France told PEOPLE that it will be “interesting to see how this dynamic” with Brent goes, adding, “However, we all know [Jeremiah], we all love him, so we’re feeling really confident about this season. I think it’s going to be fab.”

Brent, 40, agreed, telling House Beautiful in March, “We’re all in a group chat. We’re having the time of our lives.” 

“Everybody’s heads and hearts are in the right spot,” he added. “It’s really healthy right now, and I think we’re all really excited about this season.”

Meanwhile, with the season 9 premiere on the horizon amid the political climate, Van Ness shared a mantra for viewers to stay hopeful. 

“[My mantra] is from a cinematic classic, which is, ‘Just keep swimming,’ ” Van Ness tells PEOPLE, nodding to a popular Finding Nemo quote.

Queer Eye ‘s season 9 starts streaming on Netflix on Dec. 11.