It’s a year of milestones for the Queer Eye franchise: the Netflix revival recently released a seventh season and the original Bravo series is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Can you believe?!
If you’re new here, the show’s concept is simple: The “Fab Five,” a group of high-powered gays versed in the realms of food, grooming, fashion, design, and culture, spend a week lending their expertise to someone in desperate need of an overhaul.
If there’s one thing gay people think they can do better than anyone else, it’s everything — so it’s no surprise both iterations have become pop culture phenomena.
When the 2003 incarnation (which bore the wordier title of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) premiered, it quickly became the most-watched series in Bravo history. And it didn’t take long for the leading quintet– err, queer-tet of Carson Kressley, Thom Filicia, Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, and Kyan Douglas to reach celebrity status.
The Fab Five were suddenly EVERYWHERE: late-night shows, the Emmys, South Park spoofs, and even the 2003 VMAs, where they presented an award to Beyoncé and can be seen losing their sh*t when Madonna kissed Britney and Xtina. Same, tbh.
When the show ended after five seasons in 2007, it left behind a legacy of queer representation beyond stereotypes, an anti-pleated khaki agenda, and the absolute bop of a theme song that it is Widelife and Simone Denny’s “All Things (Just Keep Getting Better”).
Yes, there were moments of over-the-top flamboyance and the old episodes (which are nearly absent from the internet) look like they were filmed on a potato by today’s standards. But the hosts’ brazen confidence and genuine heart helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ acceptance in the United States, alongside contemporaries like Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, and The L Word, which were all recently rebooted. Speaking of which….
A new Fab Five was recruited for Netflix’s Queer Eye in 2018, building upon the premise by taking its advisors to traditionally conservative states like Georgia, Missouri, and Texas to help out a diverse group of subjects.
And it hasn’t taken long for stars Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, and Tan France to become as iconic as their predecessors. From music video appearances, to stumping for President Biden, snatching Emmys, and a hilarious Big Mouth parody, all things continue to keep getting better for this Fab Five. Only now, Betty Who is singing.
Whether it’s your fave show to cry to (or your mom’s), we’ve got to thank Queer Eye for furthering acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community across generations –– and helping heteros dress better.
Click through for 25 pics of both Fab Fives and some of Queer Eye‘s most iconic moments…
It’s time that the experts take over
The category is button-down shirts! Queer Eye for the Straight Guy introduced us to Jai Rodriguez, Ted Allen, Carson Kressley, Thom Filicia, and Kyan Douglas when the Bravo series premiered in 2003.
A makeover fit for late night
The OG Fab Five had their work cut out for them when they gave Jay Leno and his soundstage a makeover on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Thankfully, they’re (obviously) professionals.
The new Fab Five was unveiled
Ta dum! (That’s the Netflix sound.) The streamer debuted Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, Tan France, and Antoni Porowski as the new Fab Five when Queer Eye premiered in 2018.
All we can say is, “LIZA!”
While Liza Minnelli certainly does not need to be Queer Eye-d, she posed with these effusive gays backstage at VH1’s Big in 2003 Awards.
When Tom Jackson stole our hearts
Retired FedEx worker Tom Jackson stole our hearts in the series premiere of Netflix’s Queer Eye, where he introduced us to his ex-wife Abby, Redneck Margaritas, and his big ol’ soft side.
Jackson sadly passed away at 63 after a battle with cancer earlier this year. According to his obituary, “A highlight of Tom’s life was being cast on the Netflix show … He enjoyed the notoriety and shared his experience with whoever would listen!” Rest in peace, Tom.
These opening credits were *so* early 2000’s
Meet us at the corner of Gay Street and Straight Street! From flip phones to dramatic moments with sunglasses, the Bravo series’ opening credits served the perfect amount of cheese.
Queer Eye goes down under
G’day mate! The Fab Five was not above a little sightseeing during a 2018 trip to Sydney, Australia.
You’re a winner, baby!
These boys cleaned up nice for the 2004 Emmys, where Queer Eye for the Straight Guy won Outstanding Reality Program.
JVN’s blast from the past
Jonathan Van Ness reunited with Kathi, his high school orchestra teacher, to whip up some makeover magic on Queer Eye Season 4. Tears were cried –– and bobs were served.
And then there was Cher…
Remember when Cher played herself in Stuck on You, that 2003 comedy about conjoined twins taking on the entertainment industry? Neither do we, but the Fab Five (who, it seems, were invited to everything in the early aughts) got a pic at the premiere.
Where’s the makeover episode?
The Fab Five and Hillary Clinton met backstage at a 2004 benefit. Maybe she should have recruited them to be her running mates?
The most chaotic Queer Eye crossover
This is the kind of red carpet photo that could only exist in 2004. At the Grammys, we got a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Osbournes, and Lindsay Lohan mashup we didn’t know we needed.
This one was a tearjerker
The Fab Five helped their first-ever transgender guest in “Sky’s the Limit” on Queer Eye Season 2. Skyler Jay, a trans man in Georgia who recently had top surgery, recruited the team to assist in sprucing up his apartment and planning a party for friends.
Though some members of the trans community considered the episode “problematic,” Jay revealed the guys were “even better than what you get to see on TV” in an interview with Them. “I felt like that entire week, I spent it with my community, with my brothers,” he said. “I feel like I’m a part of this really beautiful thing.”
Smoky eye for the straight guy
Smoky eye shadow? Black bowties? An off-the-shoulder gown? Bobby Berk, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Jonathan Van Ness sported Rocket Man-worthy looks at Elton John’s 2020 Academy Awards viewing party.
The Bravo original is turning 20 –– feel old yet?
Trends have changed in the two decades since Queer Eye for the Straight Guy premiered on Bravo, but the waves it made for LGBTQ+ representation are timeless. “[The show was] one part of a bigger wheel [of change] that was happening [in the 2000s],” Filicia told Us in 2022. “And I think we had a great hand in sort of helping move that forward.”
Now That’s What I Call the 2000’s!
The embroidered jeans! The Converse! The sheer number of necklaces! Put this photo of Carson Kressley and Jai Rodriguez at the 2005 Monster-in-Law premiere in a history museum.
It’s giving Emmys
Like the Bravo original, Netflix’s Queer Eye has also been an Emmy fave, with 10 trophies and counting. The gay agenda STAYS winning!
All things just keep getting better!
We’d know these faces anywhere! Four members of the original Fab Five came to support the next generation at the 2018 Queer Eye series premiere.
We’re in Japan!
In 2019, Queer Eye took their expertise to Tokyo for a four-episode spinoff. Despite a language barrier and the occasional culture clash, We’re in Japan! helped highlight the bond that brings LGBTQ+ people together, no matter where they live.
The Mr. Straight Guy Pageant
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy finished with a bang in 2007 as the Fab Five hosted the first (and only) “Mr. Straight Guy Pageant.” The event brought back 25 past participants who competed in categories like speed shaving and cake decorating in hopes of winning the title of “Ultimate Straight Guy.”
Putting the “fab” in “Fab Five”
A whole new generation learned that the gays just do it better, thanks to Netflix’s Queer Eye.
The queens of barbecue
Kansas City BBQ restaurant Jones Bar-B-Q –– and its iconic pitmasters Mary and Deborah Jones –– got a makeover in this ESPECIALLY cathartic Queer Eye episode.
Not only is the spot still thriving (and often selling out early), but the sisters now sell their patently delectable sauce online, thanks to help from the guys. “The Fab Five were the biggest blessing for us and our family,” they wrote on Instagram in 2022.
Because shade never made anybody less gay
The stars of Queer Eye showed up to spill the tea –– literally –– in Taylor Swift’s music video for pro-LGBTQ+ single “You Need to Calm Down.” While the saccharine song wasn’t universally acclaimed, the Fab Five served nothing but fabulousness.
Tan France even thanked the singer for her support, telling Insider that she was a “powerful ally.”
The new and old guard
The original Fab Five (minus Ted Allen) posed alongside the reboot’s newly crowned experts at the Queer Eye series premiere, making for the gayest family photo ever.
strix1
“We?” We do? I watched 1 ep of the reboot and did not enjoy it…seemed patronizing. The original I enjoyed at the time because it was new and mindlessly entertaining but it started going downhill before it ended. But “we” DON’T still love the show.
Terry
Same. To me, it feels very fake and “extra”, with WeHo narcissists competing for attention. I loved that the original felt just “everyday” and relaxed.
crazyoldman
Quit watching them a couple of years ago when they started with pop psychology.
Tiredoftheinsanity
The remake is not nearly as much fun as the original…some things are best left as originals only. Ths is one of them.
sicil1
Sorry to say, the remake sucks big time, so “we” are not watching. I find only one of the five “experts” even half-way likable.