The latest iteration of the Fab Five has a fresh new face onboard.
Roughly three months after the news that “Queer Eye” design expert Bobby Berk would be leaving the series after season 8, Netflix has announced that Jeremiah Brent will be stepping in to replace him.
The new interior designer will join long-time castmates Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness for season 9 of the Emmy Award-winning series, which is set to be filmed in Las Vegas.
But who is Jeremiah Brent and where might you have seen him before?
Who is Jeremiah Brent?
Brent, whose birth name is Jeremy Clevenger Johnson, is a design industry superstar hailing from Modesto, Calif.
The self-taught interior decorator first made a splash in the world of reality TV as a styling associate on season 4 of Bravo’s “The Rachel Zoe Project.” Years later, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning “Home Made Simple” for two seasons on the Oprah Winfrey Network and starred in TLC’s “Nate & Jeremiah by Design” alongside his husband, fellow interior designer Nate Berkus.
Berkus and Brent — the first same-sex couple to be featured in ads for Banana Republic — were married in 2014 and are the parents of 8-year-old daughter Poppy and 5-year-old son Oskar, both of whom were born via egg donors and surrogates.
In 2011 — the same year he appeared on “The Rachel Zoe Project” — Brent founded design firm Jeremiah Brent Design (JBD), with offices in Manhattan and Los Angeles.
“My personal design aesthetic is monastic, but obviously, we don’t do just that with the firm,” he told Architectural Digest in 2022.
Why did Bobby Berk leave ‘Queer Eye”?
Following the premiere of “Queer Eye” in 2018, Berk quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his stunning home makeovers and compassionate conversations. So it came as a surprise to fans when the 42-year-old Houston native announced in November that he was departing the show after season 8, which dropped Jan. 24 on Netflix.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that Season 8 will be my final season on ‘Queer Eye,’” Berk wrote on social media. “It’s not been an easy decision to be at peace with, but a necessary one. Although my journey with ‘Queer Eye’ is over, my journey with you is not. You will be seeing more of me very soon.”
It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that season 8 will be my final season on Queer Eye. It’s not been an easy decision to be at peace with, but a necessary one. Although my journey with Queer Eye is over, my journey with you is not. You will be seeing more of me very soon.
— Bobby (@bobbyberk) November 13, 2023
Berk elaborated on his departure in a recent profile for Vanity Fair, saying he thought the show had come to an end after they had completed the contract they initially signed.
“We thought we were done [after September 2022],” he said. “Mentally and emotionally, I thought we all moved on. I know I did, and I started planning other things.”
But then, after nearly a year had passed, Netflix decided to renew the show, with a contract that required a commitment of up to four seasons. Having already made other plans, Berk decided not to sign while his fellow castmates did.
“We just assumed that the show wouldn’t come back if we all didn’t come back,” he said.
Berk also confirmed rumors of a rift with fashion expert Tan France.
“Tan and I had a moment. There was a situation, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show,” he told Vanity Fair. “It was something personal that had been brewing — and nothing romantic, just to clarify that.”
How to watch “Queer Eye”?
All six episodes of the current season of “Queer Eye” — filmed in New Orleans — are streaming now on Netflix, along with all previous seasons of the series. There’s no word yet on when season 9 will premiere.
