Gloss Holiday Exclusive: Our Eye On This Queer Guy! (by LoAnn Halden)

Kyan Douglas, along with Thom Filicia and Carson Kreasley, "were in attendance [of the 19th annual White Party in Miami] to support Care Resource's major HIV/AIDS fund-raiser, and the crowd greeted them like visiting royalty. For three days, the trio mingled with partygoers and graciously honored a seemingly endless stream of photo requests. From White Dreams at the Miami Seaquarium to Muscle Beach to the White Party, they added a major jolt of buzzworthiness to this year's festivities.

In the midst of the hoopla, Kyan, the show's 'Grooming Guru,' and Thom, the resident 'Design Doctor' extracted themselves from the throngs of gay groupies to talk about this sudden burst of fame, gay stereotypes, and the worst place they've had to make over so far.

The surreal life...

Despite the flocks of boys clamoring for his attention, Kyan (who is every bit as handsome in person) says the work balances out their new-found fame.

'The show aired on July 15 but we'd been working five months prior to that shooting these episodes so we were very grounded in the work,' he says. 'When it finally hit, it's kind of like it wasn't that heady because we'd done all this work and we're still doing work and have continued to do work. It is very strange, but at the same time it's not like we're on this picnic whirlwind fantasy vacation.'

In other words, they're just guys doing what they do best. Unlike so many reality shows, with their lineups of actor wannabes, the Fab Five actually have proven track records in their respective fields... Kyan has cosmetology certification from the Aveda Institute in New York and previously worked as a colorist for an upscale Soho salon.

'I feel part of our success is the fact that we're very natural,' says Thom. 'We don't play characters on television. It's more important that we don't put on a facade, that we represent ourselves as who we are. I think that's a really powerful and significant statement. We're not only representing the show but we're representing ourselves and other gay guys and also our relationship with straight men on the show. I think we just represent a really positive, comfortable, organic, exciting time in our culture.'

It takes about three days for the Fab Five to perform their special brand of makeover magic on a needy heterosexual man in the New York area, where the cast members are all based. Kyan says that in one of the new episodes taped for this season, they encountered the worst living space to date.

'We make jokes all the time about, 'Oh these guys live in crack dens,' but we're just kidding,' he says. 'This guy really lived in a crack den. It was like the worst apartment I've ever been in, in my life. I was really anxiously awaiting what Thom would do with this place, because it was horrible.

'We had to take allergy medicine to be in it. It was so dusty and dirty. We started coughing and sneezing and all that. But actually Thom is a genius and he pulled it off and it looked fantastic. It hasn't aired yet... so you have to watch for it.'

Fab foreshadowing

If it were possible to turn back the clock and visit Thom and Kyan's pre-Fab childhood, there were indeed early signs of the fabulousness to come...

'Oh gosh, if I am in fact fabulous, there was no indication,' Kyan says. 'I was pretty dorky and awkward. I was a mess. I was not cute, I was shy and very awkward.

'But I've always been interested in well-being,' he adds. 'Even as a kid, I sort of took care of myself and I used to make some skin care products in a food processor out of like papaya. I always had that in me and then I just sort of channeled that energy into various schools of education and learned about skin care and learned about hair care. You know, all the drag queens here tonight were in their mother's vanities putting on makeup. I was more interested in my mom's cleansers and moisturizers.'

Now that Queer Eye has provided a highly visible forum for their talents, has it changed their ideas about future career plans?

Kyan says that if there is life after the show in television, it would be great, but he doesn't allow himself to think about it too much. Meanwhile, Thom has a queer eye only for the design opportunities the show affords, which are a far cry from the high-end residential work his company handles...

It's a makeover show, people!

A hair stylist, an interior designer, a 'Fashion Savant' (Carson), a 'Culture Vultur' (Jai) and a food and wine connoisseur (Ted): For all its success, Queer Eye has also received its fair share of criticism from inside and outside the gay community for perpetuating stereotypes.

'That sort of very right population is going to find any reason not to like us, but that aside, it's a good question about the stereotyping,' Kyan says.

'We're not actors, we're just guys on a TV show being ourselves. We don't claim to represent the entire gay community. There's no way five people could do that. We do happen to work in fashion and beauty industries; that's just who we are as five guys. It's important though for us to be able to be ourselves. If that means that in some way we sometimes embody these stereotypes then so be it, because it's not OK to sometimes be stereotypical, whatever that means, then it's allowing a fearful straight community to dictate to me how I should behave. We (the gay community) need to be very careful about balancing wanting to be part of and fitting in against giving away who we are or suppressing who we are, because if we start suppressing who we are then they're calling the shots. It's a fine balance.

'At the end of the day, you know what? It's a makeover show and it's a lot of fun and it has heart and we're really out to do good, but it is a makeover, we're not saving lives,' he grins. 'It's not really meant to be taken that seriously.'