Chances are, if you’ve binge watched the latest two seasons of Queer Eye, there was at least one moment where you thought of someone in your life in dire need of a fab five makeover. After all, there’s not many people who couldn’t benefit from the Queer Eye team transforming their wardrobe, home and appearance.
We’ve always wondered how they find such tear-jerking candidates, and now, thanks to an interview with the Emmy-nominated casting team, all has been revealed.
Danielle Gervais and Gretchen Palek told Variety that they have been scouring the streets of Kansas for the upcoming third season.
“We had casting people on the ground looking, scouting within the circumference of where we would be shooting. Then we also had people in the office in New York working the phones, and also sort of scouring social. One of the things we’re really proud of is we’re really proactive. We definitely accept applications and nominations, but we also know that sometimes the best stories may not submit themselves,” Palek explained.
After they’ve found a suitable candidate they do extensive research before actually calling in Bobby, Jonathan, Tan, Antoni and Karamo.
“We will have people do home tours on their cell phones. We’ll say to them, ‘Take us around your house, show us some of the problematic areas within your home. Show us your refrigerator, open up your cabinets. Show us your closet.’ And that’s when we know, O.K, they could use us,” Gervais said.
When it comes to the scale of the project, Gervais confirmed that there is no makeover too big for them to handle.
“I have to tell you, there have been times where we may have thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I just don’t know [if we can pull this off].’ And then we’ll share it with our field team, and the interior-design team that is helping Bobby, and they don’t flinch. They’re like, ‘We can do it.’”
However, when they know instantly that a contestant is right, they’re fast tracked. For example, when they met Remington Porter, the star of Season 1's ‘Remington’s Renaissance’.
“He was very open and easy to guide into the process, and I think that’s usually what takes a little bit longer. Certainly, once we saw that house we were like, ‘Oh, we need to get Bobby in there, stat.’”
While at the beginning it was sometimes tricky to convince people to take part, now two seasons have aired it’s much easier.
“In Seasons 1 and 2, we had people who were reluctant. They may not have known the show really and [we didn’t have episodes to show them]. Now when we’re casting, though, we can send a tape of the first season. And people who are unsure, they’ll see one episode and they’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, I’m in.’”
In terms of casting highlights, finding the fab five was the most memorable. They narrowed down the experts to a pool of sixty before asking them to take part in a chemistry test that Jonathon previously described as “The Hunger Games meets American Idol, plus RuPaul’s Drag Race, and America’s Next Top Model.”
“We asked them questions like, ‘When’s the last time you cried? What’s your favorite type of music?’ And the [potential Fab Five members] had a choice to answer a question or toss it. I remember our five being very vulnerable, opening up, laughing, supporting, engaging, having shared experiences. I really did feel like I was watching five strangers become friends. In that moment, for me, I was like, those are our guys."