Netflix's Queer Eye is the reinvention of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, with
all the life-changing makeovers and ugly cries you remember, updated for the current decade.
Premiering in February 2017, the heartwarming reboot quickly became a pop culture phenomenon,
earning millions of fans and making instant stars of its new cast.
Filming in Georgia instead of the Big Apple, this refreshingly positive take on the makeover
reality genre premiered with a lofty goal: to fight not just for worldwide LGBTQ tolerance,
but acceptance.
With a third season set in Kansas City on the horizon, here are a few things you may
not know about Queer Eye and its talented "Fab Five."
Casting call
The stars of Netflix's Queer Eye sat down with Vulture in June 2018 to reveal how they
learned about the reboot and how they secured a spot as members of the new Fab Five.
"Food and wine expert" Antoni said he used to work for Ted Allen, the original "food
and wine connoisseur" on Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.
And he's still friends with the Chopped host today.
Antoni said a "manager friend" made the connection and called him to tell him the show was being
rebooted, sparking his interest in auditioning.
"Fashion expert" Tan said he was found by "a friend of a friend on social media" and
said he never thought he would get the chance to audition, much less make it on the show.
"Culture expert" Karamo was lying in bed enjoying Watch What Happens Live when guest and original
Fab Five "Fashion Savant," Carson Kressley, announced the series was coming back.
"So I called my agent immediately and was like, 'I have to be one of those gays!"
The casting was technically already closed, but Karamo said his agent talked Queer Eye
producers into still giving him a shot.
"Grooming expert" Jonathan said he found out about the reboot online, and was "power walking"
to his NYC salon when he asked himself,
"How didn't I know about this?
I was, like, born for this."
"Design expert" Bobby said he was "sweaty and disheveled" during his initial Skype interview
with the show's producers, but he still got a call two weeks later to meet in person,
and the rest is history.
All for one and one for all
The new "Fab Five" started their TV journey with a bold declaration of solidarity, insisting
that they all make the same amount of money per episode.
Talking to Metro, beauty guru Jonathan said the guys fought for matching wages.
And if Netflix didn't agree, they could find another cast.
He explained,
"We're homies.
We'd all feel resentful if one of us was getting more than the others.
It would create a very, like, not cool work environment."
Back in 2003, Entertainment Weekly reported that the original "Fab Five" used the same
bargaining technique to negotiate a collective salary, ensuring that all five members would
always bring home the same amount of bacon, even if one of them became a breakout star.
Tan's man
You wouldn't expect a gay, Pakistani, Muslim immigrant from England to find love with a
Wyoming-born Mormon cowboy, but Queer Eye's fashion expert Tan France and his husband,
Rob, have been happily married since 2007.
The couple, who live part-time on a ranch in Salt Lake City and met on a dating site,
started going out because their religious upbringings gave them a lot in common.
Tan told the New York Post,
"I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke.
We practice some of our religions' practices.
We don't practice them all.
We practice what works for us."
Formerly a pediatric nurse, Rob now works as an illustrator.
In a 2015 interview with Salt Lake City Weekly, he revealed that's he's into fashion as well:
"I'm passionate about women's fashion, oddly, and horror/sci-fi films.
I married a European, which is the best thing that ever happened to me, and though the world
still intimidates the small-town kid in me, I try to get out and travel often."
Coming out
During press rounds before the show's premiere, the guys of Queer Eye sat down with Bustle
to discuss their coming out stories and how they've come a long way to be the confident
and proud men you see today.
Bobby talked about how he ran away from home at 15, Tan revealed he faced bigotry in the
Muslim world, Jonathan said he was called every name in the book, and Antoni revealed
that it was only the second time he's talked about coming out publicly.
But Karamo Brown had help coming out from an unexpected source: drag queen superstar,
RuPaul.
Talking about his experiences growing up in a Jamaican family, Karamo recalled how his
father subscribed to the homophobia he said is prevalent in the Caribbean island nation,
but seeing RuPaul allowed him to come terms with his sexuality and slowly start to "test
the waters" with friends and family.
"It was something about seeing this African-American man be confident and talk openly about being
part of the LGBTQI community."
Credentials
So, how qualified are the "Fab Five"?
It's a question most asked about "Food and Wine Expert" Antoni, since he mainly sticks
to teaching people how to put together simple salads, whip up easy avocado dips, and, in
one episode, teaching a firefighter how to make better hot dogs.
An article on Junkee called, "Does The Incredibly Hot Food Guy From Queer Eye Even Know How
To Cook?" is just one example of the internet calling into question Antoni's cred.
Antoni is largely self-taught, but he revealed in a March 2018 interview with the New York
Times that he worked in the restaurant industry for several years.
He was a busboy, a waiter, a sommelier, a manager of a sushi restaurant, and, when he
worked for Ted Allen, he was his personal assistant-slash-chef.
As for the rest of the cast: Tan founded his own women's fashion line, Kingdom & State,
in 2011.
Jonathan runs his own hair salon, Mojo Hair, in Los Angeles.
"Culture expert" Karamo worked as a licensed social worker for almost a decade after his
stint as the first gay black man to appear on MTV's The Real World.
And Bobby has helmed his own interior design agency for more than a decade.
So these guys definitely know their stuff, in addition to charismatically fronting an
Emmy-nominated reality TV phenomenon that shines a much-needed light on the dark world
of toxic masculinity.
"Let it shine, let it shine, let it shiiiiiiine"