JD Jordan 

I was as surprised as anyone at how good Bravo's tricep opera Work Out got last season. The tragic and unexpected death of beloved gay trainer Doug Blasdell rocked the team of trainers and brought the beautiful friendship between Doug and straight trainer Brian Peeler to light, and Jackie seemed to make some real headway in trying to rebuild bridges with her mother, who had in the past been less than tolerant of her sexuality.

This season the trainers are back with some new additions, including a new gay trainer, JD Jordan. According to the press release for the season:

JD Jordan is tall, dark and handsome. He's been a masseur to many of Hollywood's leading artists and now wants to take his newfound passion for personal training to the next level.  He's looking to Warner to take him under her wing and show him what it takes to be a top trainer in a very competitive world.  In Jordan's personal life, he's looking for an intelligent, masculine guy and says he's sick of choosing men that need to be saved. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and too often that's what gets him in trouble.

Now before we get up in impossibly well-toned arms about the whole "masculine" thing, it's worth noting that last season arguments between Doug and Jesse Brune about gay role models and traditional masculinity brought some very interesting points to the table. Jesse's back this season as well, and no doubt having two gay trainers will again lead to more catfights stimulating conversation.

Jesse Brune

Also joining the team is (presumably straight) trainer Greg Plitt, whom you might recognize from one of those home gym commercials currently running:

Greg Plitt

I don't know what it is, but something about Greg kind of scares me a little. And it's not just that the pic makes it look like he can palm a bowling ball. And female trainers Agostina Laneri and Renessa Williams (not kidding) join the team as well.

Jackie and the gang will be back to pump (clap!) you up on April 15th. 

We just posted an exclusive interview with Brian Peeler of Work Out. Brian was the seemingly unlikely best friend of Doug Blasdell, the out trainer whose untimely death shocked everyone. There has been a great deal of unfounded speculation as to what killed Doug and Brian sets the record straight.

He explains that Doug was stricken with lymphatic cancer and underwent chemotherapy to treat it and which weakened his immune system. Doug then came down with salmonella poisoning that led to kidney failure and that, in turn, led to a staph infection that Doug was simply too ill to fight off.

Brian talks about the fact Doug was haunted by his parent's early deaths and his determination to live to be forty-four even though he believed he would die shortly after. Seeing Doug celebrate his birthday last week while knowing he knew he already suffered from cancer is just all the more heartbreaking. Brian had wonderful things to say about his friend including my favorite quote:

He was like a guy and a girl all wrapped into one. He was my counselor/therapist/best-friend/work-out partner.

I suspect Doug would be pleased to be remembered as such.

Work Out airs tonight at 10 PM on Bravo.

We got our grubby little mitts on some great pics from Work Out that I haven't seen before -- considering that there are very few good photos of Doug Blasdell floating around on the Net, we're thrilled to be able to offer these to you fans out there. Here's my favorite, a pic of a very happy Doug -- be sure to read on for more.

In yesterday's Queerview we recommended a few TV picks that ended up being very interesting -- we thought we'd revisit them here and welcome any discussion.

The View
We recommended yesterday's gabfest because of guest David Hyde Pierce, but the discussion about human sexuality that preceded his appearance was actually far more interesting. Barbara brought up a recent science article about human sexuality and the way that people are "wired" to be attracted to one sex or the other (or both), and how women were attracted "differently" than men are to other people of the same sex.

That this topic was even broached on a daytime chat show is really quite amazing -- and that it was handled with such openness and in such a spirit of understanding and learning is all the more impressive. Say what you want about Rosie and her big mouth -- her continued presence as a family-oriented gay person who stands up for her beliefs is incredibly valuable. And Barbara's unflagging support for Rosie and for gay people everywhere makes her one of the most potent allies that we have in media today. Continued kudos to the ladies for their work.

Work Out
This is getting rough. We all knew that the sad and untimely death of gay trainer Doug Blasdell was coming, but it doesn't make watching the events leading up to it any easier. Last night's episode focused a good deal of attention on Doug's 44th birthday, his support of an ailing ex-lover, and his overall likability. But the show also highlighted a dark streak in Doug's otherwise sunny worldview: he genuinely did not believe that he was going to live past 43, due in part to the fact that both of his parents died at that age.

As Doug supported his ex-lover Cheo at a dialysis session, we could see that he was not well. And in the closing minutes of last night's episode, Jackie and her trainers learned that Doug had fallen terribly ill and had been placed into a drug-induced coma at the hospital in order to get his lungs working.

Work Out is telling the true story of a gay man who loved and was loved, excelled in what he did, and was clearly taken before his time. While it's hard to watch, knowing the outcome of Doug's story, it's a genuinely touching portrait of a gay man the likes of which is seldom seen on national television, and it's being handled with a great deal of sensitivity.

Did anyone else watch either of the above? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Spring is in the air, bringing with it pollen, mold, spores, and television. I swear -- look it up. Here are our gay television picks for Tuesday, April 10th.

iVillage Live (Syndicated) Check local listings
This is one weird talk show. But today everyone's favorite Angel Jaclyn Smith will be on to talk about her new Bravo reality show, Shear Genius. I don't know that a hairdresser competition will be able to hold my attention for a whole season (check out the avatar: NO HAIR), but I would seriously listen to Smith read the instructions for the 1040 long form (with Schedules A and C).

The View (ABC) 11:00AM EDT
Niles himself, David Hyde Pierce, will be joining the gals, likely to speak about his new Broadway show, Curtains. I'm just going to make a wild guess here and say that Pierce will not be speaking about his oft-speculated-upon sexuality.

NCIS (CBS) 8:00PM EDT
Alpha Primetime Gay Teen Wilson Cruz (who played Ricky on the groundbreaking My So-Called Life) guest stars on this show, which I've never heard of and wouldn't be able to pick out of a CSI/SVU/JAG lineup. Yes, I know it's doing quite well and is one of the year's surprise hits, but I can't be -- what? It's got Mark Harmon?! Get outta my way!!

Work Out (Bravo) 10:00PM EDT
Tonight's episode of Bravo's Tricep Opera deals in part with the sudden hospitalization of gay trainer Doug Blasdell, who would sadly later pass away due to complications. It will hopefully provide some closure for Doug's many fans. Check out this previous post for more details.

A story has hit the wires reporting that tonight's episode of Work Out will deal with the death of Doug Blasdell, one of Sky Sport's openly gay trainers. Fans of the show and of Doug have been wondering how his untimely death might be dealt with by the second season of Bravo's reality show, and despite the touching dedication to Blasdell that starts each episode, the show and Bravo have been largely silent on the issue.

But folks who tuned in last week saw that in the preview for tonight's episode, gym owner/ego wrangler Jackie Warner breaks the news to the team that Doug has been hospitalized unexpectedly.

Warner notes in the interview that Doug's death was something that the otherwise frothy reality show didn't quite know how to deal with:

"The first thing that crossed my mind was how do we deal with Doug's death ... I didn't want to exploit it, but we had to address it. This was a reality that we had to deal with and we're still dealing with it. But this is a reality show. He couldn't just disappear."

The story suggests that tonight's episode might cover the news of Doug's hospitalization and induced coma through his sad passing. Granted, that was only two months, but it would be a lot to pack into one episode of a show whose stock in trade is pumped muscles and hissyfits, not serious topics like the death of a colleague. We'll have to watch to find out.

For those who have followed the drama on Bravo's Work Out you're well aware of the tension between Jesse Brune and Brian Peeler. Jesse is gay, Brian is straight, and they haven't always seen eye to eye as our recent interview with them showed. But it also showed they do get along in a jokey kind of way. Just how well they get along wasn't clear until these photos from the Work Out premiere party popped up. Don't get excited. They're not illicit, Paris Hilton-type photos. They're publicity shots, but still show that Brian--or Peeler as he's known on the show--is a pretty open guy despite his Southern upbringing. (That's a point he made, not me!) But I have to wonder what his grandfather would have to say!

That's quite some pucker--if you're a goldfish

He's getting into it

Trying too hard

And that's just right

Okay, Peeler. It's not that funny

For those who asked about Cheo, Doug's former boyfriend, it looks like he's doing just fine.

That's Gregg on the left. He's the new trainer

All on my own...

Last night's premiere of the hit Bravo reality series Work Out was quite something, eh? There's already drama, spatting, hysterics, emotional outbursts, and of course lots and lots of exposed skin. We've got a new interview, an old interview that actually showed up in the episode, and more for you Work Out fans -- so be sure to read on.

As far as Work Out's stable of toned and tempestuous trainers goes, things are as insane as usual. It was interesting to see the feud that had developed between Doug (pictured below) and Jesse (pictured at left), which actually brought some very interesting points about gay men and infighting in the community into the spotlight. To see the comments that got Doug in trouble with Jesse in the first place, read our interview with him from last year, which actually made a cameo appearance in last night's episode.

It was of course was a pleasant surprise for us to see "AfterElton.com" on screen during the premiere, particularly as it was in relation to a specific discussion of gay visibility. I fully expect to see something similar when Heroes returns in April.

Doug's work with his ex-partner (who recently suffered from kidney failure) was easily the most touching representation of gay love that I've seen on television in probably forever, and it was of course bittersweet to see Doug back in his element, as though his untimely passing in January was just a bad dream. It was nice to see that the season has been dedicated to his memory.

As a special treat, we've got a super-fresh interview up on the main page with bodybuilding bookends Jesse and Brian, who -- despite having initially been pitted against one another for Jackie's attention -- have become close friends.

To find out just how close, you'll have to read the interview ... okay, Brian's still straight, but he says Jesse's working on it! Here's a taste:

Brian: We’re team players now. We play on the same team. But not on that team, Jesse.

Jesse: Unless Brian has more than five drinks.

Brian: He gives me roofies and he says they’re Tic-Tacs. But I know they’re not. I always feel real funny after I take one. He says, “It’s only one calorie!”

Jesse: I think Peeler and I have developed a point to where our jabs just roll off each others shoulders. In the end, if Peeler ever needed anything I would be there for him. And I hope the feeling's mutual.

All kidding aside, it's great to see a gay man and a straight man from very different backgrounds come to be good friends -- a kind of relationship not generally explored in the media that really comes through in the interview.

We've also got a new polling feature on the new and improved main page, and we've made today's question about the show. Head on over and weigh in.

And if that's still not enough for you Work Out fans, head on over to our recently-created Work Out forum, where you can dish to your heart's content on "gay fat", Mimi, and anything else about the show.

Aaaaaaaaand exhale. Whew.