In November 2023, Bobby Berk shared the sad news that he will be leaving ‘Queer Eye’, and he recently revealed the real reason for his departure from the show.
The 42-year-old interior designer told Vanity Fair that when the show began, the Fab Five, which includes him, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, and Karamo Brown, signed a seven-cycle contract.
They then finished filming for two seasons in New Orleans, and thought that it was then end because their contract only lasted until September 2022.
“The Fab Five and the crew, we all stood there, and we took pictures and cried. We thought we were done. Mentally and emotionally, I thought we all moved on. I know I did, and I started planning other things,” Berk shared about their last day of filming.
However, in the fall of 2023, all members of the Fab Five were offered a new contract for four more cycles after Netflix decided to renew ‘Queer Eye’ “due to a shortage of original content caused by the dual actors and writers strikes,” as per the outlet.
In the end, Berk opted not to sign. He also noted that the other members were considering to do the same, but the four of them eventually decided to push through with the show shortly before the deadline to sign the contract.
“We’d just assumed that the show wouldn’t come back if we all didn’t come back. I was like, I’m not going to be having FOMO ’cause the show is not going to happen. I had become at peace with it,” the Emmy-winning TV host stated.
As for being the only one to not come back in the show, he commented:
“And with only one of us not coming back, Netflix felt [it] could recast one person.”
Berk also admitted that the outcome did make him feel upset “for a second.”
“There were definitely emotions. But each one of us had our reasons why we did what we did. I can’t be mad—for a second I was,” he expressed.
The interior designer then further explained why he didn’t reconsider his decision to leave ‘Queer Eye’, revealing:
“All the plans that I had made when I thought we weren’t coming back, I just wasn’t willing to change those. I would have had to pump the brakes on multiple other projects that are already in process. We had mentally just prepared ourselves to move on—that’s why I left.”
Moreover, ‘Queer Eye’ Season 8 is now available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: vanityfair.com
Why couldn’t it be Jonathan leaving and then hire a less annoying gay hairdresser, I know several. Sad to see Bobby go.