The Sweet, Sweet Internet Friendship Between The ‘Queer Eye’ Guys

The internet is a funny, dangerous place filled with hate groups and cat memes, but every so often it surprises you with a dose of earnest sincerity that will shock you into reconsidering the whole game. For me, that happened this weekend while thumbing my way through Instagram.

My eyes fell on the comment section of an image posted by Antoni Porowksi (from the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye) where fellow reality star Tan Frances had written: ‘I see it. I see it!! My boobee NOT EVEN TRYING to be the most handsome boy in the world. #pantydrop beauty.’ Like the gallop of an Instagram unicorn here were two reality star’s playing nice on screen and IRL. Unbelievable doesn’t cut it. Until now I thought the world wide web and genuine heartfelt candour were mutually exclusive.

On their show, which also stars Bobby (Berk), Karamo (Brown) and Jonathan (Van Nass), the syntax is camp, but not cliquey. Their schtick is very similar to the cult ‘90s show on which QE is based - a group of five fabulous friends that all happen to be gay use their taste and expertise to give a man (usually straight) confidence, guidance, a new wardrobe, hairdo and pad. On screen they dance around making light of their queerness, saying ’Yaassss hunni’ and eyeing up hot firemen with the abandon you’d hope they’d be allowed in America's Deep South (where the show is set).

The concept of reality TV is often misleading, many times it’s rehearsed, scripted and edited to look real. However, the Queer Eye’s cast’s social media exploits have reinstalled my faith in this programming. Just look at their unique lexicon, how they Stan for each other and their lovable soppyiess..

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.