Antoni Porowski responds to fans calling Queer Eye ‘fake’ after backstage feud
Antoni Porowski. (Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)
Antoni Porowski. (Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)
Queer Eye‘s Antoni Porowski has responded to criticism of the show being “fake” after the latest cast feud became public.
The tenth and final season of the Netflix reality show debuted on Wednesday (21 January) and sees the Fab Five – Karamo Brown, Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, and Jeremiah Brent – take to Washington, DC to makeover a new batch of ‘heroes’.
However, the launch was overshadowed by Brown pulling out of cast interviews earlier this week, citing wanting to protect his “mental health and peace” and being “mentally and emotionally abused for years” as the reasons.
Since then, Brown has unfollowed everyone in the cast with the exception of Brent. France, Porowski, and Van Ness have all also unfollowed Brown.
After reacting to Brown’s absence in interviews, Porowski alluded to the feud on Wednesday by posting an image to his Instagram stories of the Fab Five with the caption: “when life hands u lemons, u make some thyme and rosemary infused lemonade.”
Also on Wednesday, Porowski shared a series of images from Queer Eye season 10. He captioned the post: “It’s not about how or even that it ended – the journey of it all was the part I’ll hold close to my heart. thank you to each and every one of you who watched, laughed, cried, screamed, binged, and related to the stories we were lucky enough to be a part of for almost a decade.”
Under that one person commented: “Ngl the backstage drama kinda kills the vibe of the show. I’m not motivated to watch you all portray to be a big happy family on every episode knowing it’s all fake. If you can’t work out your own mess, how can you be in charge of fixing someone else’s life?”
In turn, Porowski replied: “A lot of us come from complicated families and still have jobs and positive things we’re passionate about. Authenticity is about being honest about the complexities of life and knowing two things can exist at the same time.”
The latest feud follows that highlighted by the departure of Bobby Berk, the previous interior design expert, in 2023 after the show’s eighth season. A 2024 Rolling Stone investigation identified further issues based on multiple reports from people involved with the show’s production.
Berk has responded to the latest feud by sharing a gleeful image of himself promoting his new show, Junk or Jackpot?!. “How’s everyone’s week going?!” he asked with the post soundtracked by Chappell Roan’s “My Kink Is Karma”.
Porowski, France, and Van Ness allegedly reignited the feud when they critiqued Brown’s “lifestyle choices” on the set of Queer Eye season 10. This was reportedly overhead by Brown’s mother who told her son, as reported yesterday TMZ.
PinkNews has contacted representatives for Karamo Brown, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski for comment.
Queer Eye is streaming on Netflix.
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