Weather presenter unveils gorgeous drag queen alter-ego on live TV: ‘Say hello to Gail Warnings’
ABC weather presenter Nate Byrne introduced viewers to his drag alter ego to the delight of queer viewers.
Meteorologist Nate Byrne teased the transformation earlier in June, asking Twitter followers to vote on what his drag name could “hypothetically” be.
A week later, on 21 June, the out weather presenter surprised viewers by transforming into full drag in a special segment.
“A warm hello to Gail Warnings – brace yourself Australia,” Byrne told viewers.
In his report, Byrne visited Australian drag troupe YUMMY for a “peek under the drag hood”. They gave him a full beat and flowing blonde wig before teaching him some choreography.
And a cloud of platinum to finish her off. pic.twitter.com/HizT2vzcGp
— Nate Byrne (@SciNate) June 21, 2022
Byrne said he was given a pearl necklace because he forgot to shave his chest, and a flowing cape to cover his “man shoulders”
He posted a clip of the transformation to Instagram where fans went wild.
“Blown away,” wrote one follower, while others called for Gail Warnings to “do the weather periodically”.
View this post on Instagram
Sharing the video on Twitter, he said: “Be kind – she’s a newborn. Quite a hairy one, but still…”
While some trolls were unimpressed, Byrne handled them with aplomb.
One user said: “Not news, not interesting, it’s quite sickening actually.”
“Lol…I thought Gail was good, but “sickening”? Yaaaaaaaas! High praise,” Byrne replied.
Lol…I thought Gail was good, but "sickening"? Yaaaaaaaas! High praise. https://t.co/ZwgdLZrooS— Nate Byrne (@SciNate) June 20, 2022
Before joining the ABC news team in 2017, Byrne served as a former Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant.
There had been subtle hints that a drag queen transformation was on the way, when Byrne tweeted on 14 June, “hypothetically” asking for drag name suggestions.
If, hypothetically, a certain dimpled weather presenter needed a drag name, which would be best?
(Or, feel free to suggest your own! @BreakfastNews-appropriate preferred..)— Nate Byrne (@SciNate) June 14, 2022
From the original list of 20-plus names he thought of, the voting was narrowed down to just four: Gail Warnings, Misty Showers, Miss Thunder Stood and
Summer Storms.
Fellow TV personality Dr Brad McKay suggested “Storm Inna D-Cup” – though Byrne reminded him to be “breakfast appropriate”, before declaring “I love it, though”.
I said breakfast APPROPRIATE! 😜 Love it, though.
— Nate Byrne (@SciNate) June 14, 2022