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Karamo shares surprisingly intimate details of his first night with BF Carlos Medel

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While Queer Eye begins its search for a home design expert who could fill the (very busy) shoes of Bobby Berk after his surprising departure from the series, his former Fab Five pal Karamo is done looking—at least when it comes to romantic partners.

Since 2021, the self-help guru and daytime talk show host has been happily linked up with Carlos Medel, a commercial photographer and art director.

And that’s a good thing, because Karamo has had it with dating apps and the modern dating scene in general.

In a new interview with Attitude, the Queer Eye star took a break from shirtless partying in London to call out dating apps for emphasizing superficiality and having a negative impact on self-esteem and interpersonal relationships within the LGBTQ+ community:

“That ability to find spaces, and each other, and hear each other’s stories made us strong as a community,” Karamo tells the publication. “When you get to a point where all I have to do is look at a photo and now don’t like you? It’s a slippery slope.”

Oof, harsh words for Tinder, Grindr, and the like—apps that have always been “picture-forward.”

But why the critique from Karamo, especially because he does seem to be in such a healthy, committed relationship—and is decidedly not on the apps at the moment? Well, before finding Medel, he threw himself head-first into technology-driven dating… and he didn’t like the results.

“I gave them a go while I was single, went all in and did 40 dates in 40 nights and hated every minute,” Karamo reveals. “I realized, because of the access and availability, there was no point getting invested, asking more questions, going to the next level.”

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Respectfully, Karamo, it doesn’t really sound like you set yourself up for success there with that dating marathon. If you really wanted to get to know someone beyond the “superficiality” of the apps, we can’t imagine you gave them much time considering the 39 other dates you had lined up after them!

But, to give the guy some credit, he is pretty well known, and we’re sure dating as a celebrity is an entire other ball game. It’s got to be odd when they show up to a first date knowing way more about you than you do them—though that’s the cost of sharing your life on a TV show! And we wouldn’t be surprised if some people “swipe right” just so they can say they went out with a member of the Fab Five.

Anyway, things certainly worked out for Karamo because he met the man of his dreams—though ironically also on an app: Instagram.

“I met him when we were both in relationships, although there was no funny business,” he shares with Attitude. “We got talking about work on Instagram. Ironically, conversation shifted to issues with our partners.”

The Queer Eye host previously told Yahoo! they first connected after he accidentally liked a post of Medel’s work for the brand Kylie Cosmetics—which prompted the photographer to message and say thanks. He claims they kept things strictly platonic at the time.

But, in 2021 (a year after amicably splitting with his former partner Ian Jordan), Karamo says he was ready to flirt and hit Medel up. From there, things moved pretty quickly—but not in the way you might expect:

“We said we were going to have sex, and that was it. We did not. We stayed up until 6am talking and crying,” he tells Attitude. “It was the first time I practiced something, which was full transparency on the first night. We talked about everything from family to fears to finances. We showed each other our bank accounts and credit scores on the first night. Which seems odd to some… But we were putting everything out there!”

Related:

Bobby Berk finally reveals why he really left ‘Queer Eye’ & unfollowed Tan France on Instagram

Now that the new season is out, Berk clearly feels more free to open up about his reasons.

Whoa there! Credit scores on night one? Usually we wait ’til date three—at least—but we guess when Karamo sees something he likes he really just goes for it! Bold move.

Clearly these two were meant for each other. Considering they were already whipping out their bank account info that first night we’re a little surprised they haven’t taken the next step yet, though Karamo says marriage has been on the mind since last spring. Could this be the year he pops the question?

We’ll see! In the meantime, check out some photos of Karamo and Medel looking gorgeous together:

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