‘Queer Eye’ Star Tan France Opens Up: “The Show Is Changing Hearts and Minds” (EXCLUSIVE)

Fifteen years after the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy put a fun twist on a makeover show, Netflix’s Queer Eye reboot has surprised viewers by tackling issues such as race, religion and gender stereotypes in one tear-jerking episode after another.

Fashion expert Tan France, one of the Fab Five, opens up to In Touch about how the show is so much more than just making people look good. Born in England to Pakistani parents, the Muslim fashion designer is now based in Salt Lake City, where he lives with his Mormon husband of nearly eight years, illustrator Rob France.

"Being the immigrant, I was expecting to get more abuse than anyone, but the response has been overwhelmingly positive," the 34-year-old — who was a fan of the original British version of Queer Eye — shares. "This show is so much more to me than making things pretty. It’s changing hearts and minds, and that’s exactly what we set out to do."

Tan also explains there wasn’t a political agenda when they started the show. "But I’m of a certain race, I’m an immigrant and a homosexual. By nature of who I am, that makes a political statement. And we don’t shy away from it. They’re important conversations to have. The nice thing about the show is that we’re not offended," he says.

"They cast five very opinionated men and if there’s something we want to say, we’re going to say it. They never tell us what to say. It’s not staged; we never reshoot anything."

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