I worked with him at the Hollywood Bowl, and he was a total sweetie the entire time. (Granted, it was only for a week...maybe his "jerkiness" would have come out over a longer rehearsal period.) He was one of the only "celebrities" who hung out with everyone, actually, and didn't separate himself from those of us in the ensemble. I never caught a whiff of homophobia, and we had many gay cast members, and their partners came to dress rehearsal and the cast party, etc., and there was plenty of PDA.

His girlfriend is indeed covered in tattoos, and has those huge holes in her ears - you know, the ones that are held open by some sort of o-rings? But she was very sweet, as well.
I did not like
Celebrity Duets at all. I couldn't really watch it. But when I managed to, I thought he sounded a bit screamy. Like he was hurting his voice.