“The Voice’s” Willie Gomez On Bringing Queer Latinx Representation to Team Legend and Britney Spears

Описание: It’s not everyday all 4 judges on NBC’s "The Voice" turn their chairs in the blind auditions. But for Willie Gomez, it was a no brainer.

Now on John Legend’s team, Gomez is off to the battle round of the competition. Gomez joined GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos to talk about his experience on the show so far.

“It really was a surreal moment. I still can’t believe it,” he said about his blind audition. “Auditioning in front of these coaches, was nerve wracking but at the same time, I was super stoked to be able for this great opportunity and having my family there as well.”

Family is so important to the Dominican singer whose performance of “La Bachata” blew the judges away. Gomez says he was “so proud to be able to start the show this way singing in Spanish song.” He went on to say,“We need more Dominicans up there!”

Gomez is thrilled to be providing representation to queer Latinx people everywhere. Gomez told GLAAD, there’s “nothing better than feeling like you can be yourself on such huge platform like this one.” He went on to say that, “As a Dominican Latino gay artist, it feels really good to be part of this and to feel so supported by the community and by everyone.”

He hopes that by being on the show, it will open up conversations about LGBTQ people within Latinx families. “There’s still a lot more to grow. It’s been very hard, but I think times have changed, and we’re definitely going on the right direction.”

Gomez, who previously was a dancer for Britney Spears, is excited to be showing the world that he is so much more than just a dancer. “I got to a place in my dance career where I felt like I wanted to keep growing. That’s when I decided to go back to taking acting classes and singing and songwriting and getting in the studio to learn about this whole new process.”

Gomez reflects fondly on his time dancing for the pop icon, “Britney has been the artist that I worked for the longest in my entire career. She has a special place in my heart to respect her so much.”

He reveals that it wasn’t easy picking one judge to be his mentor with so many great options. But in the end, he went with his gut. “I kind of had my mind set on John from the start.”

Tune into The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:00pm on NBC!