December 16, 2023
Wind Creek Event Center
TICKETS
All things just keep getting better, even 20 years later.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the cultural phenomenon that reshaped television and made a seismic impact when it first graced our screens, introduced a dynamic group of five extraordinary gay men – Ted Allen (food & wine), Kyan Douglas (grooming), Thom Filicia (design), Carson Kressley (fashion), and Jai Rodriguez (culture) – who brought humor, expertise, and acceptance into the lives of many. Not only did they transform wardrobes and living spaces; they revolutionized attitudes and perceptions.
Now, two decades later, the original Fab Five are reuniting for a one-night only live event, An Evening with the Fab Five – 20 Years Later, at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on December 16, 2023. Audiences should prepare for an intimate evening filled with untold stories, reflections on their impactful journey, and a peek into their current endeavors.
OutClique recently caught up with Kressley to talk more about the upcoming event and his time on Queer Eye, as well as how he was chosen to be the show’s fashion savant, memorable makeovers, bringing queer visibility to the small screen, and being a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Denny Patterson: Carson, how does it feel to know that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is celebrating its 20-year anniversary?
Carson Kressley: It seems inconceivable! It feels like yesterday, we’re all riding around in our Yukon Denali, running into very filthy apartments, and meeting schlubby straight guys who needed our help. It’s a mixed feeling of I can’t believe it was that long ago, but at the same time, it feels like yesterday.
Denny Patterson: You, Thom, Jai, Ted, and Kyan are reuniting for a special event titled, An Evening with the Fab Five – 20 Years Later, on December 16 at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. What can audiences expect?
Carson Kressley: This will be the first official thing we’ve done together since our last episode in 2007, which was our 100th episode with Susan Lucci. It was this grand finale “Mr. Queer Eye Pageant.” We’ve done a quick reunion special with Andy Cohen a couple years ago, and we’ve gotten together for different things to support one another, but we haven’t really done a project together since the show ended, so this will be very fun. It’s definitely going to be very authentic. We are going to answer questions from the audience, talk about our favorite moments from the show, and certainly, we’ll talk about the show’s societal and cultural impact. We also might do a live makeover on stage. We’ll randomly choose some people from the audience and then work with local vendors to do a live makeover as the show progresses. This is also just a great opportunity for fans of the show to gather. It’s almost like OG Queer Eye Con, where like minded folks who enjoyed the show can connect.
Denny Patterson: Have you five ever thought about doing a cross-country tour?
Carson Kressley: We have not. Although, since we announced this one-night only special reunion show, a lot of people on social media have said, oh my gosh, why isn’t this a tour? I need you to come to Denver, or Seattle, or San Diego. If this goes well, maybe we will think about adding some additional cities because we do love meeting the fans.
Denny Patterson: Before Queer Eye, you were working as the creative director in the advertising department for Ralph Lauren. For those who don’t know, how were you selected for the show? Did you audition, or did someone approach you about it?
Carson Kressley: It was very serendipitous and kind of haphazard. I was working at Ralph Lauren, and one of my producers who booked all the photoshoots, photographers, locations, and equipment said that she heard about the show on her way to work on the radio, and it was going to be called Queer Eye. It was going to be on Bravo, and they needed a real lifestyle expert, and she thought I’d be perfect. To this day, we don’t know how she found out about it because when I told the producers this story they were like, we never told anybody about the show. There was no big, wide casting call. But anyway, I found out about it, and I called Bravo, which I thought was a nonstick cooking spray at that point. I had no idea what Bravo was, and they were in Jericho, Long Island. I used 411, found their number, and called somebody, and all of this was very serendipitous and lucky too because you normally just can’t get information. I got a hold of someone who knew about the show, and they said the production company was casting that. I didn’t know that’s how TV shows were made, that the network doesn’t do it themselves. They hire a production company and they supply the show to the network. So, I called the production company, which was called Scout Productions, and that was in Boston. I connected with an intern, and they said the guys running the company are in New York casting the show, and I could send a headshot. I think I had to messenger one because I don’t think you could email photos back then, and I didn’t even have a headshot. I just had a picture of me holding some cashmere sweaters from a Ralph Lauren outtake. But they called me back, invited me down, and I went in as my sassy, overly honest, opinionated self, and they really liked it. I think I was maybe one of the first people, if not the first person cast. They eventually found five of us, and they said, we’re going to make a pilot in Boston. That was in 2002, so I took some time off work, made the pilot, and then it was crickets. That’s how it usually happens, and I never really thought about it again. Six months later, in March, they called and said, you have to quit your job. We’re making the show. And I was like, do you even have dental insurance? They didn’t, but I took a leap of faith, and here I am.
Denny Patterson: What do you remember the most about all five of you meeting each other for the first time?
Carson Kressley: It was very loud and boisterous, and nobody could get a word in, and that’s basically how it is now (laughs). But it was also very fun and energized. We were all in our early 30s, except for Jai, who was in his early 20s, so we had lots of energy and it was very exciting. We didn’t know anything about making a TV show, and reality TV wasn’t even that popular yet. So, we had very little expectations. We were just having a fun time. We had no idea how cameras worked or where we should be, how we should look, or what we should say, and I think that was the key to some of its success because it was very, very authentic. The cameras were catching us just meeting the straight guy and going through the process together. We were creating as we went.
Denny Patterson: Not only did Queer Eye for the Straight Guy change people’s lives, but it truly broke down barriers for onscreen representation of LGBTQ people. Did any of you imagine it would be such a big success?
Carson Kressley: No, I don’t think so. I think all of us were just like, oh my gosh, what are we doing? We’re stepping away from our professional career path and taking this risk, and it’s probably not even going to do anything. This is probably a terrible idea, but we had so much fun making the show, and that really showed on camera. We didn’t have a lot of expectations, which again, I think helped. It was very authentic, and we were very focused on the straight guy. Each one of us cared tremendously about the straight guy and wanted this makeover to help him get the look, get the job, or get the girl. We weren’t thinking about greater implications, and it wasn’t until the show had aired and we were out there and doing our thing that people said, hey, we haven’t really seen gay people portrayed on TV, certainly on a reality show, in this fun, light, positive way. It was groundbreaking. Some people would literally come up to me in airports during that first season and say, I’ve never met a gay person before. I was like, have you not been on an airplane? Have you not had highlights? I’m sure you’ve encountered gay people, but it really personalized what gay people were, and they got to know us as friends. Television is a very intimate medium. You’re in people’s living rooms and bedrooms, they know you by name, and they feel like you’re a friend. I especially think that’s a phenomenon for reality television because you’re being yourself and you’re using your real name. People truly bonded with us, and that is the power of coming out. Wherever you interact with other people, whether it’s on TV, at the workplace, or in your church, when you’re out and authentic, people see the real you. They’re like, Carson is a great guy, so why shouldn’t he be able to get married or adopt? Why would there be laws that are unfair to him? I know him, and he’s just another human. So, I think the show was powerful in that way.
Denny Patterson: What were some of your absolute favorite makeovers during your time on the show?
Carson Kressley: We had so much fun and did so many things, but some of my favorite guys include an older gentleman that had lost his wife. His life had stopped. He was just existing in an apartment, not really living, and I think we gave his life a jumpstart. I’m going to give ourselves too much credit, but it was one of those episodes where he broke down in tears at the end. He was so thankful and gracious, and he realized that life does go on after tremendous heartbreak. So, that was a very gratifying one. A very fun one was our Freaky Friday episode, where we switched places with another Fab 5. I got to do the interior design, which I absolutely loved, and I have taken that up as sort of a third career. And another very memorable episode was when we made over a nudist. It was like, how are we going to dress a nudist? I then got the brilliant idea that to really understand a person, I need to walk a mile in their shoes. I’m not sure if naturalists believe that’s the proper term, but I got nude for that episode. I don’t even think that would be allowed today, and much to the chagrin of our crew, camera people, and everybody, I did get naked, and there’s a whole 20 minutes of the episode with me blurred out.
Denny Patterson: If Queer Eye for the Straight Guy never happened, what path do you think life would have taken you?
Carson Kressley: I’m a big believer in serendipity and that life takes you where you’re supposed to go no matter what happens. People always ask, what would you change or what would you do differently, and I always answer, I wouldn’t do anything differently. Although, if I hadn’t done Queer Eye, I imagine I would still be working with Ralph Lauren. It’s a company that I loved working for. We had amazing people there, and I’m sure they still do. I still interact with the company on occasion and I spoke at their Pride celebration two summers ago, so I would probably still be knee deep in cashmere sweaters, traveling around the world, and styling beautiful ads. I would have been equally happy staying with Ralph Lauren, but I am absolutely inexplicably grateful for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and that experience because it has taken me so many places. I’ve gotten to do so many fun things, it has enriched me as a person, and it’s kind of made me a role model in the gay community. Making amazing friends and being in show business for 20 years was a great part about doing the show, but the most amazing thing, even still today, I’ll maybe meet somebody who is 35 and they were 15 when Queer Eye came out, and they’ll say, oh my gosh, your show allowed me to come out to my family. We watched it together and my mom and dad were laughing, and we got to talk about being gay. It made my conversation with them so much easier and I knew I was going to be accepted. As a gay person who went through that, that was probably the hardest experience of my life. So, to make the coming out process easier for other people is very, very gratifying, and I always get goosebumps when I tell that story. I still do, and that’s what I’m most proud of.
Denny Patterson: And you now sort of have this mission to continue to bring queer visibility to the small screen.
Carson Kressley: Yes. Again, I’m very, very lucky. It must have been my purpose in life to be my loud, proud, and sometimes annoying self on the small screen. Because of its timing, the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was groundbreaking, and now in another great groundbreaking way, I get to work on another iconic LGBTQ+ show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, which in a different way is doing the same thing. It’s showing queer people and telling queer stories in a very positive, authentic way. Queer Eye was all over America, but now thanks to streaming, Drag Race is all over the world. Young people across the world can see themselves being represented on TV. They can see marginalized people being celebrated and say, oh my gosh, there’s a place for me in this world. I can be proud of who I am and know I’m going to be successful. I don’t have to be scared or feel alone. To be a part of these, I’m going to say movements, have been a real blessing for me.
Denny Patterson: Do you believe the Queer Eye reboot is still living up to the hype?
Carson Kressley: Yes, I think they’ve done a tremendous job. It’s been wildly successful, and they have the same producing team, the same creator of the show, David Collins, and Scout Productions working with them. I think they’ve been great about not just staying authentic to the brand, but innovating with the brand and bringing it to this new time that we live in. It’s changed appropriately with the time and it’s a different show, but it’s excellent and doing the same thing that we did, which is empowering people to be the best version of themselves and showing people, this time on a global platform, that you can be successful, happy, and loved. That it’s okay to be exactly who you are.
Denny Patterson: Circling back to Drag Race for a moment, are you having as much fun being involved with the show as you did when you first began in Season 7?
Carson Kressley: I actually think it’s more fun now! First episode of Season 7, I was just like, I hope I know what I’m doing (laughs). Same with the first couple episodes of Queer Eye. I was like, oh my God, I hope this works. Now, on the set of Drag Race, we’ve become such a family. Me, Michelle, Ross, Ru, Ts Madison, and all the queens that have been on the show over the years, we all have a great time making the show. It’s the best gig in Hollywood, I get to wear a cute outfit, and I get to watch an amazing drag show. I get to be Gladys Kravitz every now and then and say, oh my God, I didn’t like that, but I love this! It is a fun, fun, fun job, and we’re so thrilled with the success of the show. Getting to work with Ru is also tremendous because he is such an icon, and deservedly so. He brings us so much joy, grace, wisdom, and talent to our television.
Denny Patterson: Are there any updates about the upcoming 16 you’re allowed to share?
Carson Kressley: The one thing I can tell you is that we have another amazing cast of incredible queens. I think what the show does so well and what it’s getting better with as it evolves, we’re representing so many different kinds of drag. You don’t have to be someone who is 30 years old and worked for 10 years in a nightclub to be a successful queen. There are so many different types of drag out there, and I think we’re truly putting the spotlight on that diversity within the drag community. Season 16, we have amazing, talented, fun, funny, and heartfelt queens that are going to tell their stories and bring us the goods.
Denny Patterson: What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career and platform?
Carson Kressley: I just want to continue to keep things positive. There is so much pain and heartache in the world, and if my job can provide some smiles and entertainment to take people away from the real troubles of the world, I’m thrilled to do that. That’s an honor. That’s what I feel my calling is. That being said, I still want to continue doing Drag Race, and I loved, loved, loved, I’m putting this out in the universe, doing my other makeover show with Thom Filicia called Get a Room on Bravo. So, I would love to do another show like that, maybe on HGTV. Laughter and design are the two key words in my life, and I just hope I continue to get to do them.
Denny Patterson: Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you’d like to mention or plug?
Carson Kressley: I would just say to be on the lookout for a new season of Drag Race coming in 2024, and don’t forget to get your tickets for the Queer Eye reunion show. The show is December 16 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and you can purchase tickets by going to Wind Creek Event Center’s website. All five of the Fab 5 will be there, and we’re going to be meeting and greeting, telling fun stories, and having a great time. This will make a perfect holiday gift!
Stay up-to-date and connect with Kressley by following him on Instagram @CarsonKressley. Visit WindCreekEventCenter.com for more information and to purchase tickets for An Evening with the Fab Five – 20 Years Later.
