Glee hunk: Cheyenne Jackson

If we’re going to go by stereotypes, I’m guessing that most PLUs are Gleeks, that is, fans of the award-winning musical comedy Glee, which is about an underdog glee club named New Directions at McKinley High School in Ohio. It’s campy, theatrical, and ostentatious, all of which are right up the alley of gays everywhere. However, I’m also guessing that only a minority of these PLU Gleeks realize that the actor that plays the new coach of the glee club’s main rival, Vocal Adrenaline, is a beefcake. Guys, meet the hunkalicious Cheyenne Jackson! And... he’s out and gay!

35-year-old Cheyenne plays Vocal Adrenaline coach Dustin Goolsby, which the show’s creators have described as a complete villain. So far he has only been seen in a single scene in the premiere episode of the second season, pirating Charice Pempengco’s character, Sunshine Corazon, from McKinley High. But despite the short screen time, he had a commanding presence, don’t you think? There is actually a couple of trivia about Cheyenne Jackson and Glee. One is that he was originally one of the actors considered for the role of Will Schuester, New Directions’ coach, which ultimately went to Matthew Morrison (who I think is better suited for it). Another is that he was supposed to appear back in season 1 as Dakota Stanley, the crazy choreographer of Vocal Adrenaline. He fell ill when he was about to shoot his scenes and so the show rewrote the Dakota character to be a puffed-up, condescending, and short gay guy. I guess the show really wanted Cheyenne and now has a recurring role in the second season.

Just like a lot of the regular and guest actors in Glee, namely Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), and Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Cheyenne Jackson also has a theatrical background, having performed in Broadway and off-Broadway productions like Xanadu, All Shook Up, Damn Yankees and Altar Boyz. And just like Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and Jesse St. James, Cheyenne is out and gay. And really hot to boot!

If my ultimate crush in season 1 is hunk Mark Salling, who plays bad boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman, I think Cheyenne will take the crown in season 2. And if you’re curious, no, he’s not single: he’s in a long-term relationship with a physicist (whoa!).

More pictures of this hunk here and there. There’s also an After Elton article/gallery for his 35th birthday.