After he introduced his departure from Netflix, followers around the globe had been shocked and making an attempt to grasp what precisely occurred to Bobby Berk on Queer Eye and why he left the collection. Within the months since Berk’s announcement, some behind-the-scenes drama has come to gentle—and it might have contributed to the tip of his tenure on the hit makeover present.
The inside design professional, who spent six years reworking areas and lives alongside his fellow Fab 5 members, turned a fan favourite for his bold room renovations and real connections with the present’s heroes. However as new particulars emerge about his exit—together with allegations of solid tensions and conflicting accounts of whether or not he voluntarily give up or was fired from the collection—the story behind his departure has turn into way more sophisticated than it initially appeared on the floor.
So, what occurred to Bobby Berk on Queer Eye?
It began with what gave the impression to be a sleek goodbye. In November 2023, Berk took to social media to announce his exit, writing, “It’s with a heavy coronary heart that I announce that season 8 can be my ultimate season on Queer Eye. It’s not been a straightforward determination to be at peace with, however a needed one.”
At first, the inside designer recommended this was an amicable cut up from the collection, with Individuals journal reporting that Berk’s departure was “unrelated to relationships along with his castmates.” In January 2024, Berk would ultimately divulge heart’s contents to Vainness Honest, revealing that his determination principally got here right down to the unique solid’s seven-cycle contract having led to September 2022. He was the one one who selected to not signal on for extra seasons, citing different tasks within the works. However the true bombshells had been but to return.
Why did Bobby Berk actually go away Queer Eye?
In March 2024, Rolling Stone printed a Queer Eye exposé that includes interviews with ten manufacturing insiders, which painted an image of some main tensions behind the scenes. The report revealed that Berk’s relationships with castmates Tan France and Jonathan Van Ness had turn into notably strained throughout his ultimate season on the collection.
The report included some notably stunning allegations about Van Ness’ conduct on set, with three sources describing the hairdresser as emotionally “abusive” and susceptible to “rage points.” In line with one manufacturing member, “There was completely stress between all people else, particularly from Jonathan Van Ness. He didn’t wish to ever share the highlight with anybody.” The scenario allegedly turned so tense that some scenes couldn’t be filmed with sure Fab 5 members collectively.
Van Ness later addressed these allegations on the “Desk Manners” podcast in June 2024, calling the article “overwhelmingly unfaithful and achieved in unhealthy religion.” Nevertheless, the JVN Hair founder did acknowledge moments of stress, saying, “There have clearly been occasions all through my profession the place you’re stressed, or I’ll have been elbow-deep in highlights and was like, ‘No, I can’t speak about that proper now.’”
In his January 2024 interview with Vainness Honest, Berk additionally acknowledged some tensions with Tan France, telling the journal, “Tan and I had a second. There was a scenario, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the present. It was one thing private that had been brewing—and nothing romantic, simply to make clear that.”
Just a few months later, France referred to Berk’s departure as a “firing”—a direct contradiction to the voluntary exit narrative. The stylist took to Instagram to handle rumors that he had orchestrated Berk’s substitute along with his good friend Jeremiah Brent. “My former colleague getting fired had nothing to do with me making an attempt to get my good friend employed,” he shared in March 2024. “Netflix and the manufacturing corporations did a full-on casting.”
Because the mud settles, inside designer Jeremiah Brent—recognized for The Rachel Zoe Venture and his marriage to Nate Berkus—is ready to take over Berk’s function. In the meantime, Berk’s response to the continued drama has remained notably impartial: when France made his Instagram assertion, Berk merely tweeted a GIF of Michelle Obama saying, “After they go low, we go excessive!”