AfterElton.com – Matthew Weiss
To say Queer Eye for the Straight Guy made a splash when it first premiered on Bravo in July of 2003 would be an understatement. For the first time in history, openly gay men appeared on national television and their being queer was part of the draw.
The trailblazing show opened the door for other gay friendly series to follow on Bravo including Project Runway, Work Out, and Top Chef, though it eventually took the back seat to those very same shows.
However, thanks to some fresh ideas (making over professional baseball teams and Kevin Bacon’s brother, for instance) Queer Eye still pulls in viewers every week. And on Tuesday night’s all-new episode, the Fab Five do something completely different: they make-over Miles, a transgendered man.
AfterElton recently spoke to culture vulture Jai Rodriguez about this unusual episode, as well as how the show continues to break new ground, what really goes on behind the scenes, and whether the guys will be back for another season.
AfterElton: In doing Miles’ makeover, what special issues did you have to take into consideration?
Jai Rodriguez: When they told us about Miles, we were so excited. Our show is about starting over. And that’s what Miles is doing. He’s got a whole new life. He’s in his mid 20’s and he’s become a new person.
If you look at pictures of him when he was a little kid, he looked like a drag queen. Like a boy in a wig. And he felt it. Like a stranger in his own body. So, he changed himself. And that’s admirable.