At a recent panel discussion, Queer
Eye's fashion guy Tan France said that he joined the reality
makeover show because he wanted President Donald Trump to see his
“gay Muslim” face.
Netflix's reboot, now in its second
season, is filmed in conservative Georgia and Missouri.
France, along with cast members Bobby
Berk (design), Karamo Brown (culture) and Jonathan Van Ness
(grooming), spoke on a panel to promote their new lifestyle book,
Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Your Life,
at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York City.
“I didn't want to
do the show because I was scared,” France said. “My husband
encouraged me to do it for this reason: I represent so many things
that [the Trump] administration definitely doesn't appreciate.”
“I'm a
first-generation immigrant, I'm a gay Muslim, all of those things
they don't want to see on TV.”
“I was hoping
that people would see me and my brothers on TV and would say, 'They
do deserve our love and respect. They are just like us. They've got
every right to speak as much as anyone else.' So, I took this job
for that reason alone. Trump [is] in power and I want to show him my
face.”
France, 35, added
that he lied to his Pakistani parents about his career choice.
“I started my
first year of college to study psychology. I hated every hour of it.
And so, I had to lie and tell my parents I was going to college
everyday. I dropped out and applied to fashion college and only when
I graduated I was like, 'Oh shit you guys, I'm not going to be a
doctor. I'm going to be fabulous.'”
Season
3 of Queer Eye is
expected to arrive in 2019.