what's cookin'

This TV chef was originally cast on ‘Queer Eye’ but was swapped last minute with Antoni Porowski

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Chef Stuart O’Keeffe has revealed he successfully auditioned for the Queer Eye reboot as the food expert. The Irish-born cook and food journalist, who’s now a US citizen, shared the story on yesterday’s episode of his Don’t Let It Stu podcast.

The Queer Eye reboot first aired on Netflix in 2018. It made stars of each of its hosts.

“I actually got chosen. I was in one group of five, there was another group of five, which Antoni was in,” O’Keeffe, 42, recalled. “They came in [and said to my group], ‘You’re the Fab Five.’ We all went outside the room, screaming, jumping up and down. I was like, ‘Let’s get a photograph. This is such a great moment for us.”

O’Keeffe shared the photo.

However, a week later—around a month before filming was due to commence—O’Keeffe had yet to receive a contact.

He called the others to ask them if they had theirs. They said they did. He went out to a celebratory dinner with Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk and Jonathan Van Ness. O’Keeffe says Tan France didn’t attend, which he also thought was a little odd.

He says that after the dinner, producers called him back for a further audition.

“And two days later I get pulled out and Antoni gets pulled in,” he said.

Finding out via Instagram that he’d lost the job

O’Keeffe pushed to know more about the decision not to offer him the job.

“The production company wanted me on the show. I’d done other shows with them. They were like, you’d be perfect for this. You have a cookbook out. It all ties in perfectly. … My agent called me, he’s like, ‘Look, I know this sounds totally kind of shitty, but they said that you kind of have done too much stuff. I had a cookbook out and I’d done multiple shows before, where the other four hadn’t. So they were like, they kind of want everybody on the same level.”

O’Keeffe is indeed no newcomer to TV. He’s appeared on the likes of Food Network’s Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, Chopped, Stuart’s Kitchen, and Home & Family, among other shows.

“I was like, okay, that’s kind of a lame excuse, but fine, I guess,” he said.

However, he said the most annoying thing was finding out via Instagram that Antoni Porowski had been cast.

“And then the production company called me, they were like, ‘We’re really sorry. We didn’t know the assistant was going to post this video.’ I was like, I’m fine. I’ll just like cry for the next year.”

Thankfully, O’Keeffe’s career has continued to shine despite losing out on the Queer Eye gig.

Here’s a shot of him with Andy Cohen when he mixed up some drink recipes on Watch What Happens Live a couple of years ago.

“It was such a missed opportunity for me, but you know what, everything works out,” O’Keeffe said about Queer Eye.

You can watch the whole episode of his podcast below (the video plays from the start of the Queer Eye discussion).

Jeremiah Brent

The current season of Queer Eye (S.8) is the last to feature interior designer Bobby Berk. Netflix recently announced interior designer Jeremiah Brent will replace Berk for the next season, which will be set in Las Vegas.

Check out some more images of O’Keeffe, below. If you need some kitchen inspiration, do follow his Instagram, which is packed with simple recipe videos.

Related:

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Sounds like the ‘Queer Eye’ star and his beau moved very fast on their first date—but not in the way you might think.

Newly single Antoni Porowski shaves it all off and nobody is mad about it

Antoni Porowski has entered his smooth era.

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