Each member of the Fab Five on Netflix’s Queer Eye has their own unique talents to contribute. The star that does the most leg work by far, however, is home design expert Bobby Berk. Here’s what Berk was doing before joining the Fab Five.
Most people are familiar with the stars of Netflix’s Queer Eye - a reboot of Bravo’s Queer Eye For The Straight Guy - now. But just a year ago, the Fab Five - including Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Ness - were hardly household names. On the show, the lifestyle experts help people get out of their comfort zones and reinvent themselves - redesigning their home decor, upgrading their wardrobe, and teaching them how to cook for themselves. Berk is in charge of renovating the “heroes’” homes, or a space that means something to the person. So far on the series, he’s remodeled church centers, teachers lounges, and office spaces. Fans joke that he’s often the most under-appreciated of the Fab Five, despite doing most of the work. It turns out he’s been working this hard long before joining the Netflix show.
While Berk now lives in LA with his husband, Dewey Do, he was born in Texas (like fellow Fab Five member Brown) and raised in Missouri to very religious parents. He’s discussed his upbringing and complicated feelings about religion on Queer Eye. Eager to leave the discrimination he felt in his youth behind, Berk moved to New York in 2003 with “$100 and a suitcase” and the dream of being an interior designer, according to Refinery29. He started out in retail, working jobs at Bed Bath & Beyond and Restoration Hardware, before becoming a creative director at Portico Home and Space, a high-end home furnishing company, despite no formal training or high school diploma. In 2015, he founded his own design firm, Bobby Berk Home. With his company, Berk works with major homebuilders in the US to turn typical tract homes into more “custom,” homes, Berk told Metropolis.
Berk may have had a difficult upbringing in many ways, but it also helped inspire his career. When asked if he was into design and renovation from an early age, Berk said on Instagram that he was, sharing a photo of himself painting a shed as a child. But he’s definitely come a long way since painting sheds. One of his latest projects was designing his new LA home with his husband Do, whom he’s been with for 14 years. Berk’s also got partnerships with lifestyle brands like Target and even launched his own pinot grigio with Ecco Domani Wine. For the most underrated Fab Five member, he’s doing pretty well for himself.
It’s hard to think of a time when the whole world didn’t know who Berk was, but it really wasn’t that long ago. He seems to be adjusting to his newfound celebrity well. In addition to starring on the show and continuing to run his business, he frequently posts photos of him and Do enjoying one-on-one time. Berk clearly understand how important home is - especially when it’s flawlessly designed.
Next: Queer Eye’s Jonathan Adopts 2 Kittens After Cat’s Sudden Death
Source: Refinery29, Metropolis, Bobby Berk
