Ever since he first bounced into our lives via Netflix’s Queer Eye, we’ve dreamed about becoming best friends with Jonathan Van Ness. As it turns out, though, that position has already been filled by another of our favourite TV stars – the impossibly funny Nicola Coughlan, of Derry Girls and Bridgerton fame.

The pair became social media pals in 2018, when Coughlan tagged Van Ness in a photo of herself wearing a sweater with his face emblazoned across it (as you do). 

“Put on the new @QueerEye and lasted two seconds into the opening credits and I’m already crying,” she captioned it. 

“I love it so, so much. [And] of course I’m wearing my @jvn jumper, need you even ask?”

Van Ness saw the tweet, loved it, and reached out to Coughlan, sparking a beautiful online friendship in the process. 

After a year of Twitter and Instagram fun, the duo finally met in person when Coughlan visited Van Ness in New York City. Naturally, like all good millennials, the pals bonded quickly over their love of all things Harry Potter, so they went to see The Cursed Child together on Broadway.

And, speaking to People in a joint Zoom interview about their friendship, Van Ness has revealed that – during the play’s intermission – he told Coughlan that he wanted to publicly reveal his HIV diagnosis. 

“A lot of folks in my orbit were like, ‘Are you sure?’ But Nicola has consistently been so supportive,” shared Van Ness.

“We are consistently there for each other… [and] she’s helped me navigate all sorts of situations that I never thought I’d find myself in.”

Coughlan, who says that her relationship with Van Ness has only grown stronger during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, adds: “It felt like we had met before. It just felt like we’d been friends forever. 

“It just means so, so much, honestly.”

Talk about #FriendshipGoals, eh?

Images: Getty