Nick Cearley

For Nick Cearley, one half of the “stripped-down” music duo The Skivvies, it was a Home Improvement star who helped him realize he was gay.

“As I got older, I started to realize kindred spirits on TV that I related to for one reason or another. I dressed like Sara Gilbert’s character on Roseanne—which now would pass for anyone in Williamsburg—and I remember I first got the “tingles” for Jonathan Taylor Thomas on Home Improvement. When he was interviewed on The Rosie O’ Donnell Show, he shared his vegetarianism and tofu recipes at age 14—same age I stopped eating meat. I thought we were going to live happily ever after with our veggie crock pot recipes.”