The interior designer admits that there was some conflict between him and Tan France.
Bobby Berk admits that his decision to leave Queer Eye after eight seasons "wasn’t an easy one."
"Queer Eye has been the most amazing gift that I couldn’t have ever imagined," the 42-year-old designer tells Vanity Fair of the heartwarming reality series. "It’s been a life-changing moment. I’m leaving something that is a huge part of my life."
Berk explains that both he and the rest of the Fab Five -- which includes fashion expert Tan France, culture and lifestyle coach Karamo Brown, food and wine guru Antoni Porowski and beauty maven Jonathan Van Ness -- did not think they were coming back after they wrapped filming on two seasons in New Orleans, ending their seven-cycle contract that lasted through September 2022.
"We all stood there, and we took pictures and cried," he recalls of that last day of shooting. "We thought we were done. Mentally and emotionally, I thought we all moved on. I know I did, and I started planning other things."
Then in the fall of 2023, Berk says Netflix decided to renew the series amid the WGA and SAG strikes. Berk decided not to sign the contract, which he says asked for a four-cycle commitment, and he claims some of his co-stars had planned on not signing either. "We’d just assumed that the show wouldn’t come back if we all didn't come back," he says. "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."
However, Berk tells Vanity Fair that after some conversations and shortly before the contract deadline, the other four stars of Queer Eye decided to sign on for a few more seasons. "And with only one of us not coming back, Netflix felt [it] could recast one person," Berk explains.
When that happened, Berk says there "were definitely emotions."
"But each one of us had our reasons why we did what we did," he adds. "I can't be mad -- for a second I was. ...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."
Berk also addresses the rumors of why he's leaving, including that there is a rift in the Fab Five friendship and that he always worked the hardest as the interior designer on the show.
"You will have never found me quoted as saying that I have the most important job and I do the most work," he tells the publication. "All five of us are of equal importance."
Berk goes on to address an alleged feud he had with France. "I hope this interview will help extinguish some of the speculation," he says. "I want people to know that Tan and I -- we will be fine."
That being said, Berk does admit to butting heads with his co-star. "Tan and I had a moment," he admits. "There was a situation, and that's between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show. It was something personal that had been brewing -- and nothing romantic, just to clarify that."
As for why he unfollowed France on Instagram and has since stopped tagging him in group photos, Berk says, "Should I have unfollowed Tan? No. Maybe I should have just muted him. But that day, I was angry, and that's the end of it. We became like siblings -- and siblings are always going to fight."
For the time being, Berk and France seem to be in a good place. "I will always have a very special place in my heart for him and Rob [France's husband] and the kids. I can foresee in six months or a year, Tan and I at each other's house being good," he says.
Additionally, Berk opens up about the toll a show like Queer Eye can take on a person behind the scenes. "It's beautiful and amazing and heartfelt, but behind the scenes, it's an emotionally hard show to make," he confesses. "Queer Eye has opened up a lot of wounds -- not just for me, but for my castmates too. We've had to open up wounds that we thought we had forgotten about and healed from, from our childhood and our past. That takes a lot out of you, to revisit those again in front of the world."
Looking back on his auditions for the show in 2017, Berk says he quickly befriended his castmates. "Tan, Karamo, and I, we sat right next to each other on the very first day of casting and instantly had a connection," Berk remembers. "And then with Antoni, and then the next day with Jonathan. I started a Fab Five text group between the five of us before we even could have imagined we were cast, and I feel like that's why we got the show. Casting saw that we really, truly love each other, and we all truly had great chemistry. From the very beginning, we had a real connection."
Berk also shares what he'll miss about each and every cast member.
"I will miss Jonathan's ridiculous silliness -- to the point of sometimes wanting to wring their neck. But I will miss it," he says. "I'll miss Antoni's dumb jokes where nobody else will laugh except him. He'll make the silliest, dumbest joke, and we're like, What?"
And when it comes to Brown, Berk calls him "a loyal b**ch."
"I'll miss Tan's boundaries," he says. "Tan loves a boundary, and that's one of the things that I respected about him the most. Even in the very beginning, when we were filming seasons one and two, we would all hang out together every single night, all weekend long. Tan wouldn't always, 'cause Tan needed his boundaries. Some of us didn't have the strength to be like, 'No, I need a break.' Tan would be like, 'No! This is my alone time. Don't text me, don't call me.' I always respected that. I've actually learned a lot from him on being able to have boundaries. Sometimes the healthiest relationships are the ones with the best boundaries."
Season 8 of Queer Eye is currently streaming on Netflix.
As for the advice he has for whoever replaces him in season 9, which will be set in Las Vegas, Berk shares, "Open up your heart. Keep an open mind. Don't get discouraged. And have fun. Be nice to my siblings!"
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