A celebrity talent judge on Steve Harvey’s Big Time, a flamboyant super villain on two seasons of Last Comic Standing, the level-headed host of Celebrity Fit Club and a perennial TV fixture (Teen Confessions, A to Z, Red Light/Green Light, Boomer Nation, Premium Blend, Funny Money, Talk Soup), queer comic ANT seems to have hit the big time. With a hit CD, Follow My Ass, a stand up show and a new series on Logo, there seems to be little stopping him.

We caught up with the funnyman for a few quick questions his one-hour special on Logo this month and dating drama, the perks of fame and kissing a Baldwin brother (the wrong one).

AfterElton: Everybody loves Fit Club.
ANT: I know what’s happening and I’m in love with it.

AE: Is it a fun hosting gig?
ANT: It’s really fun. It really truly is. VH-1 was behind me-–I was their first pick. Ever since Last Comic Standing, they pursued me to do it. I said no to them three times and then I finally said OK and I’m so happy I did.

AE: You’re all over the place now. Do you feel like you've really made it now?
ANT: You know I only feel like I’ve made it this week when I opened up the Star and I’m worst dressed this week. I swear to god, I’m the worst dressed in the Star this week and I feel like I’ve really made it now.

AE: You’re in good company. You really have to be something to make that list.
ANT: I’m in really good company. Yeah. I don’t know, it’s weird-–I have eight-year-old girls that come up to me and I have 92-year-old gay men. My fan base is really divergent.

AE: I remember we talked years ago when you were on Unhappily Ever After? Has your fan base changed a lot since then?
ANT: It has. It’s gotten more straight. It’s gotten way more straight which is just fantastic because it’s just a good way for me to expose a lot of people who have never met a gay person to what gay people are like and then they realize, Oh my god they’re funny and they’re just like me. I think that’s the best form of visibility.

AE: Do you think with this increased visibility are you still perceived as ANT, the gay comic or just ANT?
ANT: I’m just ANT, the celebrity who is everywhere—and is the worst dressed, which is a shame because I really liked what I wore that day.

AE: It’s like high school-–whatever you love everyone else hates.
ANT: Yeah. But there were three things in my life I wanted to accomplish. One was to buy my parents a home. I accomplished that. Two was to get on a hit series. I accomplished that. And three was to get on the Star magazine worst dressed list and I accomplished that. So now I think I have to become a teacher or something.

AE: You talked about showing mainstream audiences what a gay man looks like. Do you still feel a responsibility to portray gay people?
ANT: Absolutely. It’s weird because when you are openly gay the community kind of thrusts this [responsibility] to be the spokesperson for us all the time on you. So it’s an unspoken thing but you feel it. I just did The Tonight Show with Sharon Stone and I flirt with Kevin, the bandleader, and I always have to find a happy medium to not cross the line because gay people watch and they’re like, "Oh wait, you’re representing us, don’t boil us down to one sentence. We’re more complex than that.”

AE: I imagine that’s a pretty heady task. It’s difficult. Don’t be too flamboyant, don’t be too straight acting--
ANT: Right. Don’t be too flamboyant, don’t be too straight acting, don’t make sex jokes, don’t make no jokes about sex, be who you are, don’t be who you are. Don’t give out our laundry. Give out our laundry. Be salacious but be conservative. represent but put on a good face but be interesting. It’s a laundry list. But you know I’m happy to be where I’m at. Gay people have supported me from the very beginning and I won’t let them down now.

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