With five seasons under its belt, an ongoing sixth and six Emmy Awards, it’s safe to say that Netflix’s reboot of strange eye is a huge success. Apart from the show, extraordinary food and wine Antoni Porowski, grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness, culture man Karamo Brown, fashion expert Tan France and design man Bobby Berk are also on the show. became stars in their own right, with concerts, book deals, podcasts, and appearances on other reality shows.
But all of this wouldn’t be possible without the original Fab Five, which over five seasons and 100 episodes helped evolve the conversation about how gay people are portrayed on mainstream television. “It opened the eyes of people all over the world, and I love that the strange eye the reboot continues that legacy, ”OG fashion scholar Carson Kressley said on the recent E! special Road Trip to Reunion. The show features Carson and the rest of the team on a special road trip to Los Angeles that once again has the boys living up to their old shenanigans.
Thanks to the episode, we also got a glimpse of what the original cast members have all been up to these days! So if you are curious about what happened to the original cast of Strange eye for the straight dude, buckle up as we cover the present of the original Fab Five.
RELATED: Tan France and Husband Become Dads, Reveal Son Born Seven Weeks Earlier
The legacy of the original Fab Five
Strange eye for the straight dude came out eighteen years ago at a time when same-sex marriage was not even legal yet, and portrayals of gay men on television and in movies were rare.
The first Fab Five – Carson Kressley, Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, and Jai Rodriguez – were considered groundbreaking at the time of the series’ release. As Carson Kressley said in Road Trip to Reunion, “Out of the closet, gay men had never been allowed to be themselves on television before.” But beyond that, they also made a point of connecting with the men they recreated and having conversations about masculinity, grooming, self-care, and self-esteem which in turn. ‘time, were quite rare to see between men.
“We celebrated the people,” Kressley said. “We never said, ‘Oh, you’re terrible. Change that. Change that. ‘ We said, ‘You’re awesome. Let’s make you amazing.
In addition to setting audience records for their Bravo network, Strange eye for the straight dude won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004 and a GLAAD Media Award in 2004 and 2005. Despite its runaway success, the show has met its fair share of criticism, especially for its “stereotypical” portrayal of homosexuals as more inherently knowledgeable about things like fashion, grooming, and pop culture.
The Fab Five remember it all and more Road Trip to Reunion. Released in June this year, the limited event series celebrates the cast of iconic shows from the early 2000s, from Scrubs To All my children to, you guessed it, Strange eye for the straight dude.
The OG Fab Five episode stars Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley and Kyan Douglas as they surprise Jai Rodriguez on his 40th birthday with a road trip and a makeover (unfortunately Ted Allen had to call during the filming Chopped). The makeover part – or as they called it, “doing it better” – was quite a nostalgic trip, as the boys fell into their usual roles to help zhuzh pick up Jai as he entered a room. new chapter in his life.
And of course, they also tell us about their professional and personal life afterstrange eye.
The original cast of strange eye – Where are they now?
Carson Kressley
Just as Tan France does now, the original “Fashion Savant” was tasked with teaching the show’s topics about fashion, style and making them believe that being beautiful can make you feel good about yourself too.
After strange eye, Carson stuck to his guns and continued to appear on reality shows, hosting shows like the Lifetime Makeover Series. How to look good naked, a reality TV documentary series on OWN titled Carson Nation, and ABC Real beauty.
He was also a judge in the reality TV series Crowned: the mother of all competitions and on the Food Network Barbecue fight. He also participated in The new celebrity apprentice and the 13th season of Dance with the stars.
Today, Carson is perhaps most famous for being a regular judge on the hit competition show. RuPaul’s Drag Race. Take a stroll on gay Twitter, and soon you’ll come across a screenshot or GIF of one of Carson’s famous reaction shots.
A visit to Carson’s Instagram will tell you that he’s been enjoying his time as a stylist and equestrian lately.
Ted allen
While most people know Antoni Porowski as the extraordinary and charming and charming food and wine, Ted Allen was the OG. Dubbed the show’s “food and wine connoisseur”, he has been tasked with teaching subjects everything about food, from food preparation to menu planning.
But Ted was more than Antoni’s predecessor – he was also her friend and mentor. Ted met Antoni at a cookbook signing in New York City years before the reboot, when the 27-year-old was working part-time in the food industry while trying to become an actor. Eventually, Ted hired Antoni as a personal assistant, where the latter was able to take care of the former’s house and menu. When the two got wind that Netflix was restarting strange eye, Ted graciously introduced Antoni to showrunner David Collins. And the rest, as they say, is history!
After strange eye, Ted brought together his passion for cooking and his television background by appearing as a judge on reality shows like Excellent chef and America’s best cook Where Star academy. Eventually, Ted became the host of the Food Network reality show. Chopped – a job he has been doing for 12 years now. Since 2015, he is also the host of Junior chopped.
Ted Allen is a longtime contributor to Esquire magazine and has also written two cookbooks: The food you want to eat: 100 simple and smart recipes and In my kitchen: 100 recipes and discoveries for passionate cooks.
kyan douglas
As the show’s “Grooming Guru”, Kyan was the guy who was able to rummage through all the medicine cabinets for topics and give expert advice on grooming, hair, and personal hygiene. Before being one of the originals strange eye cast members, Kyan was on two makeover reality shows, TLC’s What not to wear and While you were outside. But in recent years he has spent more time outside the limelight.
Today, Kyan is a recurring beauty expert on The Rachael Ray Show, where he does makeovers and beauty segments. “It may seem superficial or trite,” Kyan said in Road Trip to Reunion, “But sometimes, something as simple as a haircut really helps us change and evolve and grow.”
Kyan isn’t as active as the rest of the boys on the ‘Gram, but every now and then – between photos of his adorable puppy Maya – he posts a strange eye backtrack or two.
Thom filicia
Like Bobby Berk, the “Design Doctor” worked magic on the show, turning the subjects’ drab, dark homes into homes they could be proud of. Talk about his design philosophy in Road Trip to Reunion, Thom said he always wanted to make sure that each project “represented the person we were transforming.”
While Carson and Ted have been part of the reality scene every 18 years afterstrange eye, Thom was a guy more behind the scenes. He’s got a show with Carson called Get a room with Carson and Thom, which sees the two working together to design interiors for all kinds of clients.
But apart from that, Thom has been busy with his own interior design company, Thom Filicia Inc. Recently he has done design work for stars like Tina Fey and Jennifer Lopez. He also collaborates with brands like Riverhouse and Radio City Music Hall.
“Right now I’m really excited to continue to grow all of my brands and interior design business,” he shared.
If you want to see all the beautiful design work that has kept Thom busy these days, his IG is full of gems!
Jai Rodriguez
While Karamo Brown provided sage advice on self-love and acceptance, Jai Rodriguez took a different approach as the show’s “Culture Vulture”. He has taught subjects on popular culture, art, music and relationships. At Road Trip to Reunion, he compared his role to that of a “cool concierge” in “the hotel of life”, saying: “I give [them] access to things that are so beyond the VIP.
Unlike the other original members of the Fab Five, Jai moved on to sitcoms and dramas after the show ended in 2007. His first gig was Chaz Darling on Ryan Murphy’s. Pinch / Tuck. He has also appeared on hit shows like how I Met Your Mother, BONE, Grace and Frankie, and Grey’s Anatomy, and was cast as a series regular on Malibu Country opposite Reba McEntire and Lily Tomlin.
When we sat down with Jai in 2019 he was promoting The inhabitants of the East where he played the role of Jimmy, and the Hulu show Doll face. Recently, Jai did a Musical Monday series on his Insta, where he goes live to sing the covers requested by fans. He also hosted Real People Real Voices in 2021 for Queerty’s sister site, LGBTQ Nation.
Is there any chance of seeing the Fab Five all together?
Speaking of his time on strange eye, Jai mentioned that he missed being able to make people “feel seen” the way they did. “It wasn’t just a TV show, it was the start of another movement.”
But despite the fact that we did so well together on Reunion Road Trip and made us laugh out loud during their recent hilarious stint on Family quarrel (where they took on the new Fab 5s!) we feel the boys are happy to leave all the improvement work to the new kids.
While we probably won’t see them become a hero anytime soon, they’re still good friends who enjoy working with each other when the opportunity arises. We keep our fingers crossed, we’ll see …
