Well now, after eight years and ten seasons, the makeover show Queer Eye has wrapped up its run. The tenth and final season was released on Netflix on January 21.
The revival of the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy began in 2018. Five “experts” were called to help a person make some changes in their live. The experts were Karamo (Culture), Bobby (Design), Tan (Fashion), Antoni (Food and Wine), and Jonathan (Grooming). The person who got nominated underwent that special treatment for a five day period.
I began watching the series in the Fall of 2022, just about a year after my big life transition. I caught up on the previous seasons fairly quickly, beginning with the Atlanta seasons and then going into Kansas City. These two cities encompassed 2018 and 2019, pre-pandemic. I was able to enjoy the New Orleans run of seasons seven and eight when it came out in the Spring of 2023 and again in the Winter of 2024.
After season eight wrapped up in early 2024, the original Design expert, Bobby Berk, left the show to pursue other projects. Fans were upset and I wasn’t even sure I would continue to watch. I kind of had an idea what was going on behind the scenes, but I wasn’t going to let that phase me. I have Bobby’s design book and another book that covers the show. I got this as a Christmas gift in 2022 along with the laptop I’m using to work on these blogs.
Berk’s replacement, Jeremiah Brent, is well known for his show on TLC that he was on with his husband. Brent has been a solid replacement for Bobby. Brent’s husband is Nate Berkus. Perhaps you’ve heard of him too.
I could talk about all of the heroes whose lives have been changed by the Fab Five. For the sake of giving you more, I’m only going to mention a few from the later years. Remember the saying that less is more. Billy is from the ninth season which took place in Vegas. He worked as a children’s librarian, and was very creative and authentic. As iconic as he was, his home definitely required some attention. Fab Five to the rescue!
From the D.C. run, the episode that really stood out to me was “Coming In Hot”. Hello, this is almost me to a complete T. At least that’s my opinion of myself. Kate was the nominee. She was a firefighter and a single mother to twin girls and one feature about all three of them was their red hair. Kate was definitely a tough nut to crack, especially early on as Karamo, Tan, and Jeremiah could never seem to get through to her. It was so frustrating.
She has dealt with her share of trauma and loss. Her family experienced a serious house fire in 2019. The scene where Jeremiah takes her and her daughter forging really hit me good. She breaks down as she holds on to trauma and grief and it’s up to Jeremiah to give her some tough love. It isn’t until she meets up with Antoni and JVN that her mood starts to shift for the better. Jeremiah had said, “You have to be willing to change and that we (the Fab Five) can only do so much”. People can compliment me on my fabulous sense of style all they want, but it’s ultimately up to me to love myself.
The Fab Five paid their tributes to the show in the closing credits throughout season ten. As the credits rolled, it was hard for me not to get emotional as I witnessed the experts break down. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Great show and I’m going to miss it.
Stylish 🍒 