Queer Eye just gave America’s Got Talent fans the crossover they never expected!
Season 9 of the Netflix hit dropped on Wednesday, Dec. 11, showcasing 10 heroes in the Las Vegas area who were nominated for a makeover. One of those heroes was AGT favorite Piff the Magic Dragon, who rose to fame on season 10 of the NBC series in 2015.
Piff, whose real name is John van der Put, is best known as a magician and comedian who performs in a dragon onesie. After placing in the top 10 on AGT, van der Put landed a Vegas residency and has been performing at Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino alongside showgirl and real-life partner Jade Simone since 2015.
But while he’s had success on the stage, van der Put’s loved ones — notably legendary magicians Penn and Teller — thought he could use a revamping to his personal life and nominated him for Queer Eye in hopes that the Fab Five could give him a transformation ahead of his Magician of the Year Award from The Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle.
“I had a lot of fun on the show. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but I had a really good time with them,” van der Put jokes in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE after filming the season 9 episode. “I was a little skeptical because how can they improve what already is? And then I realized that they wanted to transform the offstage me. And I was like, ‘Oh, well, that may leave a little to be desired.’ But they came in and just totally made over everything in my life offstage. And Jade, my partner was very, very, very grateful.”
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In the episode — titled “Poof Goes Piff!” — Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness and newcomer Jeremiah Brent focused on enhancing aspects of van der Put’s life outside of his Piff persona by improving his physical appearance, emotional/mental outlook and relationship with Simone.
“We had so much fun, and he’s so cute already,” Van Ness tells PEOPLE. “This episode was kind of a lighter lift for me, because I just did a cute little trim and gave him a little skincare and it was kind of unique for me. He was already so cute. But I loved being able to meet him and I think his family and what he does is so genius.”
The group not only offered him fashion tips, gave him a new haircut and helped teach some cooking tricks, but also encouraged him to embrace his self-confidence by joining the Magic Mike Live show at the SAHARA Las Vegas.
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“They were right about the fact that it didn’t take much effort just to look a little bit more presentable,” van der Put says. “And I think a lot of people in my life had just given me up [as] a lost cause … And they sort of came in with a new attitude of, he’s still salvageable.”
“My favorite part was getting to know them all actually, ’cause I had a lot of fun with each of them. We’re still in touch, and we made some good friendships,” he adds. “My least favorite part was, they put me in Magic Mike. Why would they do that to me? I mean, what have I done that was so wrong, that I deserve to end up in Magic Mike? It’s a really great show, but it does not have any magic dragons in it!”
“But thankfully I didn’t have to show my abs off so that was good,” he jokes. “The whole thing was just a ton of fun to do.”
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But perhaps the most memorable moment was when van der Put proposed to Simone at the end of the episode after being together since December 2014 — something that the magician credits the Fab Five for inspiring him to finally do.
“I come on this show. It started with Antoni and all of them were like, ‘Hey, when are you going to get engaged to Jade?’ And I was like, ‘Guys, come on. I’m not going to…’ And I just suddenly was like, ‘Hang on a second. There’s no reasons anymore,'” he says of putting it off for years. “Clearly it’s lasted. Clearly, we love each other to bits. Clearly, we’re great together.”
Van Ness also tells PEOPLE that they “had a sneaking suspish [suspicion]” that it would happen, but didn’t want to sway van der Put any specific way.
“I feel like with our show, I don’t want to put pressure on people, but I also kind of secretly wanted it. So I was really happy when it happened,” Van Ness says.
