Queer Eye

Next week, Bravo will kick off the last season of the reality hit, Queer Eye.  The Fab Five have been helping straight men (and women) make themselves over from their wardrobes to their living spaces, and more, since 2003.  The show has been nominated for Emmy awards, winning one in 2004.  To kick off the fifth and final season on October 2, the premiere episode will feature the "Straight Guy Pageant" hosted by the legendary Susan Lucci.  An all-new episode follows where the Fab Five help a man who's about to meet the woman he's been talking to on Match.com for the last six months.

Today, members of the Fab Five Kyan Douglas, Jai Rodriguez, and Ted Allen took part in a press conference to discuss the final season of the show and what the future holds for them.  They also looked back at how Bravo helped shape their career and the cultural impact Queer Eye had.  The five guys didn't know each other before heading to an open call a few years back.  Now, they describe each other as "brothers".

Bravo has always been a network that celebrates creativity and diversity, and is particularly gay friendly.  Openly gay participants have been featured on everything from Top Chef to Project Runway to Shear Genius.  The guys admittedly owe a lot to Bravo for the successes they've had since 2003.  "Bravo is an amazing network in the sense that they're so irreverent," Allen told BuddyTV.  "You can do things on Bravo that other networks won't let you do.  They've continued that gay friendliness in all the shows that followed us.  We're represented, we're loud and proud and we've stayed."

The love goes both ways between Queer Eye and Bravo.  "To Bravo's credit, they built on our success with shows that have since made the network honestly even bigger," Allen said.  Since filming wrapped last year, each of the guys have moved on, pursuing their separate careers.   Rodriguez has a new show airing on Style network and will also guest on Nip/Tuck this season.  Allen has been seen as a judge on this season's Top Chef and also has his own show called Uncorked.

Besides making over people on a weekly basis, the guys admit that the show has made them over as well.  They're different men than the ones who started on the show four years ago.  "As the straight guy learned a lesson that we were around for, you learned too," Rodriguez said.  "I feel like, over the 100 episodes, you absorb that information that your co-host is sharing.  I learned a lot from Queer Eye, I think."  Carson, Thom, Ted, Kyan, and Jai return to Bravo, starting Tuesday for the final season of the show.


- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer(Image courtesy of Bravo)