KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR RETURN OF THE FAB FIVE
the penthouse of a London hotel – sadly minus Jonathan, who is stuck in New York – they spill the beans on why.
“It was really important that season two be more diverse,” says Tan, who is fresh from a visit with his family in Doncaster, the first time he’s seen them in a year. “We actually shot season one and two at the same time, but you get to learn so much more about us than you did in season one.”
Antoni, by far the quietest member of the group, says thoughtfully: “Sometimes when it’s things that are personal, they tend to be a little more challenging. But we have people who need our help the most and there’s something really disarming about human vulnerability and it’s kind of hard not to participate in that because it is a conversation.”
Tan, meanwhile, is the first openly gay Muslim on western television.
Even though he hails from Yorkshire, he now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his husband, who is a Mormon cowboy and he thought the burden of the responsibility of making history might be too heavy.
“There was a time when I thought I was actually going to say I don’t want to do the show,” he admits.
The problem, he explains, was that when he spoke, he wouldn’t just be speaking for himself: “I speak for a whole community, and I represent so many different communities that that felt like a lot of pressure.”
Luckily, it was his husband, Rob, who talked him into it.
“My husband is wonderful and he reminded me that if it’s not me, then who? If it’s not now, then when?
“So I feel like it’s perfectly appropriate that we now have representation and that I am that person.”
■ Series two of Queer Eye will stream on Netflix from June 15.