Celebrity IOUis paying homage to the lateLeslie Jordan.
“He’s a positive light that just makes you smile no matter what your day has been like,” Drew tells PEOPLE.
In the show, A-listers surprise friends and mentors with a home makeover. Jordan gifted his dear friends of 40 years, Rosemary Alexander, 81, and Newell Alexander, 87, with a modern Southwestern ranch renovation.
“They’ve just always been there for me,” Jordan says of Rosemary and Newell in the episode. “I had some struggles with alcohol, a little drug use. I’m 25 years clean and sober, but they were instrumental in that too because they never judged me.”
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“He’s also just really easy to be around, and I don’t know how many times he’d be on set and we’d be filming and then on a break I would walk over and he was just sitting down chatting with somebody from the crew or from construction and sharing stories, making them laugh, but also sharing vulnerabilities and talking about some of the stuff that he’d gone through,” recalls Jonathan. “Just a really remarkable human being.”
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Drew agrees and says, “He creates community for people, lets them know that there’s somebody here for you and there’s somebody that’s been through something similar.”
PEOPLEpreviously spoke with Jordan’s friend Rosemaryabout what the touching gift means to them and how it contributes to his legacy. “He’s not only a part of our past and our history, but he’s a part of our every day,” Rosemary says of the home.
In addition to Jordan’s heart-wrenching episode following his death,Celebrity IOU’s full lineup of stars includesDrew Barrymore,Cindy Crawford,Terry Crews,Cheryl Hines,Kate Hudson,Idina MenzelandWilmer Valderrama.
“You see this side of Kate Hudson that you’re not used to seeing in a romantic comedy who just enters demolition mode and karate kicks a wall off a shed,” says Jonathan. “I was blown away that Barrymore had such an exquisite design eye and she came with a 40-page inspiration board.”
Previous seasons' stars includedBrad Pitt,Tiffany Haddish,Halle Berry,Snoop Dogg,Allison Janney,Rainn Wilsonas well as Jonathan’s girlfriendZooey Deschanel.
source: people.com
