After ten seasons of calm kitchen confidence on Queer Eye, Antoni Porowski has decided that his next career phase is apparently: global travel, cultural discovery, and an alarming amount of time spent exiting bodies of water like a man who understands exactly what he’s doing to the internet.
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And the internet? Fully unwell. As usual.
From culinary therapy to international thirst trap diplomacy
In Best of the World with Antoni Porowski, the National Geographic travel series inspired by its own prestige list, Antoni moves through Paris, Mexico City, London, and New York City with a mission that sounds educational on paper:
Find what makes a place special. Learn from locals. Taste culture. But in practice, the trailer suggests an alternate thesis: Find the nearest pool. Enter it. Exit it slowly. Repeat.
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The Antoni Porowski pool agenda (now confirmed as recurring content)
There is travel footage. There is architecture. There is meaning. And then there is Antoni Porowski emerging from a morning swim in a luxury hotel pool like he’s been rendered specifically for a fragrance commercial that never made it past focus groups.
Later: another dip. Another exit. Water clinging dramatically. Sunlight doing overtime. Camera lingering just long enough to feel intentional.
At night? A rooftop pool scene that looks less like “documentary travel series” and more like “soft-launch of a Mediterranean heartbreak you’re not emotionally prepared for.” At this point, National Geographic is not filming a show—they are facilitating a mood. And the mood is: yes.
Culture is happening. Antoni is also happening.
To be fair, there is substance here. Antoni gets rare access inside Big Ben’s Great Clock, explores cheese-making traditions at Quatrehomme Paris, visits Quetzalcoatl’s Nest in Mexico City, and even hands out medals at the New York City Marathon finish line. Important cultural work.
Still, none of that stops the collective audience brain from going: “okay but when does he get wet again?”
There are also spa sequences and wellness stops, where sleeveless tanks appear to be doing a lot of emotional heavy lifting. It’s giving “balanced lifestyle.” It’s also giving “accidentally extremely watchable.”
The philosophy of looking like that while saying things like this
“Travel has always been my way of understanding the world – and myself,” Antoni said in a statement.
“Exploring these cities alongside the people who call them home reminded me that what makes a place special isn’t just what you see, but who you meet and the stories you’re invited into.” A thoughtful sentiment. Genuinely.
But also slightly dangerous when delivered by someone who looks like that immediately after leaving a pool.
A man, a camera, and a suspicious amount of inspiration
In a PEOPLE interview, Antoni explained his travel instincts:
“Everyone’s been flooding Taormina [Sicily] because of White Lotus; my version of that is music videos,” he said. “My life is music videos. I was inspired when Gwen Stefani filmed her music video for ‘Cool’ in Lake Como, Italy.”
Which… explains the lighting. And possibly the water saturation levels.
The end of Queer Eye, the beginning of “please don’t look directly at him when he’s wet”
With Queer Eye now wrapped after 10 seasons, Antoni’s pivot into travel TV feels like a rebrand—but not a reinvention. More like: same man, expanded environment, increased exposure to pools.
He previously hosted No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski for National Geographic, but this new era feels less “taste” and more “temperature of the water at any given moment.”
Final verdict: unsafe levels of serenity
Best of the World with Antoni Porowski premieres June 7 on National Geographic, with all episodes streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Expect culture. Expect travel. Expect emotional intelligence.
And, if the trailer is honest about anything at all—expect Antoni Porowski to keep stepping out of pools like he’s personally responsible for raising global hydration standards.