Ted Allen says he didn't care much for
the title of the hit reality show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,
which later became Queer Eye.
In the show, which ran for five seasons
on Bravo starting in 2003, a team of five gay men – the “Fab
Five” – perform makeovers, usually on straight men.
Allen, a writer and cookbook author,
was the show's “food and wine connoisseur.”
Appearing on HuffPost Live, Allen, now
the host of Food Network's Chopped, told host Caitlyn Becker
that he disagreed with the show's title.
“I never thought it would get made,
with that title,” Allen
said.
“I'll never forget the first time I
watched Matt Lauer try to say the word queer on TV. I mean it's not
a word people threw around a lot. And it was a very political word.
I didn't like the title at the beginning. I've come to realize I was
wrong. Because of the provocative nature of it, which balanced with
the sweetness of the way the show ran. Most of the time, it worked
out,” he added.