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‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ was a turning point for Bravo and reality TV.
In 2003, five gay men with massive star power set breakout network Bravo ablaze. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was a groundbreaking series not only for Bravo but it also changed the face and feel of reality television.
The magic behind the series was the playful and sometimes sarcastic exchanges between the five stars, AKA the “Fab Five” and how they related to their designated episodic “straight guy.” Interior design guru Thom Filicia said the spiciness in their banter is one big reason why the series worked so well.
‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ set the tone for reality tv
“I think when we started in reality television, it was a little bit of the Wild West,” Filicia told Showbiz Cheat Sheet in 2021. “It wasn’t defined yet. It could be anything we wanted it to be. There was no network that was kind of giving us a bit of a narrative that they were hoping for drama or arguing … and so we didn’t have any of that.”
But what they did have were hilarious one-liners and snark. “I do think that there was a sort of magic and this sort of serendipity in our coming together as five people and the wackiness and spontaneity,” he continued. “And I think it was kind of like a perfect mix. And I think it’s the way that we riff off of one another. I think it has a certain energy and sort of freshness to it that I think clearly still exists, which is cool.”
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The Fab 5 blazed a new reality trail in ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy became the incubator for iconic Bravo series like Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Work Out, and the Real Housewives franchise.
Culture king Jai Rodriguez recalled how the audition process for Queer Eye was interesting because they had no point of reference going into it. “When Queer Eye was an audition for me, there was no reference,” he told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “They were like, we don’t even know how to tell you what this is. When I was going to audition, my agent was like, you have to be out. It’s like The View and Charlie’s Angels and Trading Spaces. Like there was no reference.”
Prior to Queer Eye‘s launch, gay men as leading men in a reality TV series were nonexistent. “During the early Queer Eye seasons, Rodriguez admits he struggled. “There’s a lot of pieces of my story that I fudged when I was Queer Eye. Like I had no relationship with my mother,” he said. “Basically, I was disconnected because of her inability to kind of embrace who I am as a queer man. And that never repaired itself.”
“But what did I do during Queer Eye?” he asked. “I was filled with such shame during that era to say this happened. I didn’t want people digging up her business and her having a hard time. So we literally made amends for that time. I put it through her hair and makeup and would bring her to an event or two. We both played our parts.”
Bravo marks Queer Eye for the Straight Guy‘s 20-year anniversary with a day-long marathon on Thursday, July 13.
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