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"Oh my God, you guys. Today, we have not one, not two, but FOUR heroes. They're called the Try Guys," Jonathan Van Ness, the groomer of Queer Eye, tells his castmates with that excited little voice of his, from the passenger seat of their four-wheel drive. The interior designer of the group, Bobby Berk, is driving, while the rest of their crew: Tan France the stylist, Karamo Brown the culture expert, and Antoni Porowski the food and wine connoisseur, are sitting in the back seat."Whaaaaaaaat?" they ask in unison."This show has really taken itself to the next level," Karamo says, looking at the camera."Tell us about them!" Antoni exclaims from the backseat, his eyes growing wide."Why are they called the Try Guys?" Tan asks, more to himself than to the others."So. They're a group of content creators, they make a lot of cute little videos where they try new things, hence their catchy AF name. They recently left BuzzFeed like a couple months ago, to start their own production company--""Good for them!" Karamo exclaims."So now they're independent and have really established a career for themselves after working for four years at BuzzFeed. They also have a show on YouTube Red called Squad Wars. Yas henny!""Who are the guys in the group though?" Antoni asks."I'm getting to that! So there's Ned Fulmer, he's 31, 5'9, has a dog named Bean, and married to his lovely wife Ariel and he recently just became a dad to their baby Wesley.""AWWWWWWWW," the Fab Five say. They were a sucker for babies."Then there's Keith Habersberger, also 31, 6'3, married to his wife Becky just last year where the rest of the Try Guys were groomsmen.""AWWWWWWWW," the Fab Five say again. They were a sucker for weddings."Wait. His name kinda sounds familiar. I think I've read his name somewhere before," Jonathan says."Maybe you've seen him on the Internet," Antoni suggests."No no no, I think...." Jonathan gasps in recognition. "Ooh! I think he's in the LA comedy scene. I remember now. I was supposed to go to one of his shows a couple years ago with my friend Denise, but something came up and I had to cancel. Then I heard some of the other comedians talking about him, RAVING about his show so I really regretted being too busy to go.""It's cool that you guys are both comedians," Tan says."Up next is Zach Kornfeld, he's 28 years old, 5'7 and three-quarters, his love life is a bit non-existent at the moment, but he has an Australian shepherd named Bowie.""AWWWWWWWW," the Fab Five say for the third time. They were a sucker for dogs. Well--maybe except Tan. His eyes grew wide."Aside from being constantly single, it says here that he CANNOT cook to save his life and lives on takeout so Antoni, I think you might be of help there in that department.""YOU THINK? It's literally my job!""Lastly is Eugene Lee Yang, age 32, 6'0, has two dogs called Emma and Pesto, and loves his hair. ALSO! He's the only guy in the group that is in the LGBTQ community!""YAAAAAASSSSSS," they exclaim.They drive through the streets of Los Angeles, the sun shining bright through the windshield and on to their faces, the palm trees swaying in the breeze. ---- "I haven't seen it yet," Keith Habersberger addresses the camera."You've NEVER seen the Queer Eye reboot?!" Eugene Lee Yang asks right next to him, alarmed."I'm sorry, I haven't had the time! And Becky and I are still on the second season of Black Mirror.""Dude. That has, like, three episodes. Hurry your ass up," Zach Kornfeld adds, laughing."WE'RE SLOW WATCHERS, OKAY????" Keith yells.Ned Fulmer laughs his Squidward laugh.The camera cuts to just Eugene alone. "Today, the Try Guys try getting made over by the Fab Five from Netflix's Queer Eye." A photo of the Fab Five in their loft in Atlanta is shown.The camera cuts to Zach. "There has never been a single episode from that show that didn't leave me in tears at some point or another," Zach said earnestly."My wife and I love that show. Bobby is her favourite because she learns a lot from him seeing they both work in interior design. And I have to admit.... it has made me cry. LIke a lot," Ned says."Keith hasn't seen it yet because he's a loser," Eugene says. "I don't mean to be arrogant but I think I'm the one out of the Try Guys who needs their help the least? My fashion game is strong, I make sure my hair is on point, I can cook-""You have trouble opening up to people, Eugene," Zach comments off camera."Weren't you bullied as a kid?" Keith asks."I'm gonna need Antoni's help the most because out of all the Try Guys, I CANNOT cook anything, and I do mean anything. I'll probably burn my house down by the end of this video," Zach says to the camera. "I think Keith is gonna need Tan's help because, no shade, he dresses almost the exact same way every day and it is hilarious," he adds."I think I'm definitely gonna need Karamo's help. I just became a dad to my son Wesley and knowing that Karamo has two sons that live with him, he's gonna be able to give me a lot of valuable advice," Ned says."You guys, we pulled a SHIT TON of strings to get this video done. We had to call Netflix, all of the Fab Five's agents, make sure they weren't going to have conflicting schedules, basically there were just a LOT of hoops we had to go through to get this done. They've been kind enough to all meet us at my house here in Los Angeles so they can 'make better' us," Zach said to the camera."Hopefully what I'm about to say will get you guys really excited, but the makeovers we're gonna be doing will also be a BONUS episode of Queer Eye," Eugene adds."So really, this whole thing is sort of a collaboration between the Try Guys and Queer Eye. Our video isn't going to be the actual bonus episode--that is going to be way more detailed than our video, so make sure to watch it on Netflix," Ned adds."I guess you can say it's a CROSSOVER!" Keith exclaims, ending the introduction.
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"I think we're here," Bobby says, parking the car in front of a house on an attractive street somewhere in Hollywood."YAAAASSSS, let's go meet them!" Jonathan exclaims excitedly as he opens the car door and hops out. The four other guys follow suit and knock on the front door of Zach's house."Oh shit, they're here," Eugene says. "How's my hair?""Oh save it, Eugene! We all know they're all gonna think you're hot and need the least help out of all of us," Zach says, rolling his eyes. He walks to the door, the three other Try Guys behind him. He smiles widely, both out of excitement and the need to make a good impression. He opens the door."HEEEYYYY!" everyone yells. "Welcome to my humble abode, everyone!" Zach says, opening the door more widely. Jonathan was the first to step in. "Hi you guys, I'm Jonathan!" he says, hugging each of the Try Guys. The rest of the Fab Five--Bobby, Antoni, Tan, and Karamo enter the house, introducing themselves and hugging the four heroes they were about to make over that day."I'm Bobby, nice to meet you!"
"I'm Zach, this is Eugene, Keith, and Ned."
"Hi, I'm Tan, can I give you a hug?"
"Of course! I'm so honored to meet you!"
"I'm Antoni!"
"Hi!"
"I'm Karamo! How are you?"
"It's so nice to meet you!"Just then, Zach's Australian shepherd, Bowie, barks his way to the living room. "OH MY GOD, THIS MUST BE BOWIE! HE'S ADORABLE!" Antoni yells. Everyone knows he loves dogs. He kneels down on the floor and rubs Bowie's ears and chin. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" Antoni coos."Yeah, that's my dog Bowie. I'm sorry, he might get his slobber all over you," Zach apologizes."No worries! I absolutely don't mind!" Antoni says ecstatically. He looks up and Tan is, understandably, hiding behind Karamo. He points at Tan and laughs good-naturedly. "Is there a chance we can keep him outside?" Tan asks no one in particular.After all the niceties were made, the nine of them (plus Bowie, whom Antoni kept fawning over) make their way over to the couch and armchairs."So," Karamo starts, "the way we're gonna do this is that we're gonna get to know you guys a little bit more so that we can figure out which of us has to spend the most time with each of you. Does that sound good?""Absolutely!" Ned says."Of course," Eugene agrees."But first of all, we LOVE the show and we love you guys," Zach adds. "I think I can speak for everyone when I say we've cried at almost all of the episodes, and we really appreciate that you guys take time out of your lives to actually get to know the heroes and help them 'make better' themselves and their lives. I can't say the same for Keith though.""Wait, why?""Because he hasn't seen the show," Zach chuckles."Say it ain't so, Keith!" Jonathan yells."I watched ONE episode last night just to see how the show worked. Other than that, I haven't had the time to really bingewatch it," Keith says apologetically."Well, no matter! We're here now so you don't need to watch the show to know what you're in for, because you're going to be one of the heroes," Tan says graciously."So. Why'd you guys quit BuzzFeed? Tell us about that," Bobby asks."That must've taken some guts," Antoni adds."We figured it was just time, you know?" Ned begins. "We all started at the same time as interns back in 2014, we got together for a video where we try on ladies' underwear-""Because we're the four grossest people at BuzzFeed," Eugene interjects. All of them laugh."And that's how the Try Guys were formed! I got promoted to a managerial position, and all of us got to be really involved with producing videos for BuzzFeed, and it was fun. We got to expand our careers, our skill sets, and we don't regret anything. But as the list of ideas we had for videos grew, so did our desire to produce videos at our own pace in our own way, and to do that we had to leave," Ned continues."Fair enough! Good for you guys, you realized that there were more things you wanted to do that you felt couldn't be done if you stayed," Karamo says."Exactly.""It’s very important to know when something isn't really beneficial for you anymore especially if it affects how you grow as people within your careers," he adds."So, tell us about yourselves. What are some things about you that you feel you really need help to improve? You've got the five of us here who are experts in five different fields, and we're here to help you with the aspects of your lives that you feel need improving," Bobby says."I'll start," Zach says. "I think I'm a pretty good dresser, I've definitely stepped up my game and made more effort in choosing what to wear-""Good," Tan says. "I can see that.""But I've always been insecure about my body, I don't really fit the body image standards for American men, I'm too lanky, but most importantly I have trouble reconciling with this." He points to his head. "Male pattern baldness runs in the family and while I'm not losing hair yet, I do have a receding hairline and losing hair is not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.""I can help you with that!" Jonathan says enthusiastically, reaching over to pat Zach's knee. "There are ways to distract from or minimize your receding hairline, but just know that it's not something to be ashamed of, it's something that's natural and is eventually going to happen to us as we get older, including me," he adds.Zach nods gratefully. "Also, I don't cook AT ALL. My culinary skills are limited to buying prepackaged salads, microwave meals, frozen pizzas, but other than that, absolutely nothing," he adds."Right, so I can definitely help you cook some basic stuff, dishes that would be appropriate to the level of your culinary skills, which is basically non-existent-"Everyone bursts out laughing."But we can definitely make this work and it's all about finding out what you're good at and what you're not good at in the kitchen," Antoni says."And also, Zach, I hear you talking about not meeting the standards for American men today and being insecure about your body, so we're gonna have a long talk about that later on, okay?" Karamo adds.Zach nods, then looks at Keith next to him. "Your turn.""Uhh, I definitely also have body image issues, people tell me my mouth's too big although I've kind of already embraced that since getting into comedy--""OOH! On the way over here, I read your name and I thought, hmm his name sounds familiar, and I realized that you were in the LA comedy scene, is that correct?" Jonathan asks."Yeah! I've done some shows here and there, mostly with my band Lewberger. We write our own songs and we're working on a comedy album right now!" Keith says, touched that someone acknowledged his comedy career."That's so fun, Keith! I've been trying to get into stand-up comedy myself," Jonathan replies proudly, beaming."Oh nice!""Keith wears basically the same outfit every single day," Eugene interjects. He stretches both his arms towards Keith, gesturing to his entire outfit. "This ensemble he's wearing right now? He's got like twelve identical button-up shirts that he rotates throughout the week," he says, laughing. Keith blushes, but laughs along. "True that.""That's okay, Keith, I'm going to help you pick out some new clothes that YOU feel are right for you and still goes with your personal sense of style," Tan says from where he was sitting on the couch armrest behind Antoni. "Don't worry, I'm going to be with you every step of the way.""And hearing you talk about something that people tease you about and embracing it and using it to your advantage, that's something not a lot of people have learned how to do, and we can unpack that," Karamo adds.
Everybody turns to Ned. "I just became a dad," he says proudly. "It's been great, I love being a dad, but I've been so tired lately. And there are times where I wake up in the middle of the night and have these weird thoughts of... I'm not doing enough, I'm not gonna be able to raise my son properly, I'm gonna fail, and it's terrifying.""As a father of two boys myself, I was in a similar position eleven years ago, when I found out that I had a son. Obviously it's different from when you're actively involved in having a baby with your partner, but I've learned a lot from fatherhood and I would love to share this knowledge with you," Karamo tells Ned earnestly."Yep, yep," Ned nods. "I also haven't had the time to shave lately--""We can all see that!" Jonathan yells good-naturedly. Everyone bursts into laughter. "But it's okay, Ned, I'm here, I'm your fairy godgroomer, here to help you get the best daddy facial hair you deserve!" Ned laughs at that, a huge smile on his face."Last but not least," Bobby says. "Eugene?"The smile on Eugene's lips vanishes, a deer-caught-in-headlights expression forming on his face. Everybody looks at him. "Oh, um, well, uhh-" he stammers, then clears his throat. "Well, I like to think I'm already up to speed with fashion and hairstyling, my mom taught me how to cook mostly Korean dishes so I'm okay on that front, uhh...""He has a tendency to push people away and he has difficulty opening up to people, even his closest friends," Keith interjects smugly, probably to get back at Eugene for doing the same to him earlier.Eugene rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I suppose." He shrugs. "I was bullied a lot in school, being the only Asian-American kid in my grade in a mostly white public school in Austin, Texas. I was called ugly a lot, and they said the only attractive thing about me was my hair, and..." he gestures to his hair. "The rest is history.""Oh yeah, there's nothing I can do to make that baby better," Jonathan says admiringly. "Keep doing whatever magic you already do to her, Eugene. You don't need any help from me, you're good.""Yeah, and that outfit you've got on is stunning! It might actually be better than mine," Tan says, pointing to Eugene's black leather jacket over a short-sleeved leopard print button-up shirt, ripped black jeans, and chunky black combat boots. "You don't need any help from me either.""And if your mom was the one who taught you how to cook Korean dishes, then there's no point in me teaching you," Antoni adds. "You don't mess with an older lady's cooking, especially your mother’s. I'll leave you alone.""BUT," Karamo says. "The issues you've had during your childhood, the bullying and the teasing, it's evident that you've carried at least some of that with you into adulthood. These experiences have shaped you into who you are today, some of your traits have been the products of your insecurities I'm assuming, so it's important to unpack that and talk about it with someone. So," he looks around the room. "I guess I'm...helping all four of you today. That's fun!""Group therapy session, anyone?" Bobby teases. Karamo elbows him. Everyone chuckles."Oh, and Bobby? Since, obviously, you can't renovate all four of our houses, if you're willing, we would like you to help us improve our work space instead," Zach says."Of course! Just take me there later. I would love to see the space where you guys come up with your ideas, where you make your videos, and see how I can make it the best space possible tailored and decorated to your needs," Bobby replies.All nine of them stand up. Bowie sits in front of Antoni, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging. Antoni scratches his chin, grinning."So! Are we all ready to get started?" Jonathan asks."As ready as we'll ever be," Eugene says."WOOF!" Bowie barks.Antoni kneels down and hugs the dog, sniffing his fur. "I just met you but I love you so much already," he says."I think the feeling is mutual," Zach says.
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After figuring out who needed whose help, it was agreed that Eugene would accompany Bobby to their office and show him around, Keith would take Tan to his house so Tan could assess his closet then take him shopping afterwards, Ned would take Jonathan to his house so he could look at his grooming supplies then show him how to properly shave his 'dad' beard, and Zach and Antoni would stay at Zach's house so Antoni could teach him how to cook. After that, Jonathan would go back to Zach’s house to help him with his receding hairline. Then the rest of the Try Guys would meet back again at Zach’s house so Karamo could talk to all of them."See you guys later!" Everyone said goodbye to each other as they all went their separate ways for the rest of the day.Antoni was delighted when it sunk in that he was going to stay at Zach's house. This meant he could be with Bowie, who was the love of his life--after his long-term partner Joey, of course.Or maybe not."I love you SOSOSO much! You are the most adorable thing I've ever seen!" Antoni was now sitting on Zach's rug, rubbing Bowie's neck and ears like his life depended on it. Bowie, of course, was basking in this complete stranger's love. He licks Antoni's face, and Antoni laughs."So," Zach says behind him. "What are we cooking today?""Yeah- uh- just give me a sec," Antoni says distractedly. He rubs his face against Bowie's soft fur and took a deep breath. "I can't get enough of you.""Wow, I think you love him more than I do. I'm actually more of a cat person myself."Hearing this, Antoni gasps then stands up, finally letting go of Bowie. "You are?!""Yeah. I've always loved cats more than dogs. I think they're superior."Antoni gasps again. "You did NOT just say that," he says, aghast."It's true. I was at the animal shelter originally looking for a cat to adopt--but I fell in love with Bowie so I got him instead," Zach says, remembering fondly the day he adopted Bowie and made it public on social media. "But that doesn't mean I've suddenly become a dog person. I'm a cat person who just so happens to own a dog instead of a cat."Antoni raises an eyebrow."Okay, I admit, it is ironic and a little weird," Zach says, shrugging."Whatever, dude. Dogs are better than cats. Sky is blue, grass is green, can't fight it," Antoni says, doing an impression of Jonathan. "If they weren't, you wouldn't have fallen in love with an Australian shepherd instead of a cat, which you were looking to adopt in the first place.""Yeah, but-""Ooh, what's this?" Antoni says, making his way over to Zach's bookshelf. On Zach's shelf were an array of novels, comic books, and various figurines."My collection. You know, fandom stuff," Zach says sheepishly."Dude, don't be embarrassed. I am obsessed with the Avengers and Star Wars. You should see my room at home. My partner Joey complains that there's too much merch cluttering our bedroom so I had to move most of it into this spare closet in our apartment," Antoni says, picking up a figurine and examining it."Hm. I wonder what it's like sharing a bedroom with a partner," Zach says, talking mostly to himself.Antoni looks at him. "Oh, right. We heard your love life was non-existent. Look, there's nothing wrong with being single. You have more room to figure out who you are first before you share yourself with someone else. And it shouldn't dictate your self-worth.""Nah, I get that, Antoni. Totally. It's just...being single gets lonely, you know?""Yeah. But at least you have this guy right here," Antoni says, crouching to pet Bowie again."Yeah, about that. I don't own Bowie. Not full-time anyway.""What do you mean?""I co-own him. With someone. And I'm actually seeing her.""WHAT?" Antoni stands up so quickly that it startles Bowie. "You have a girlfriend?""Well... yeah. But nobody knows. Not even the Try Guys.""That is NOT possible.""Okay, so they know that I have a close 'friend' who happens to be a girl, but they don't know that we're officially together. I've brought her to a few parties and stuff but they don't think it's anything serious and...it actually is.""So why all the 'being single gets lonely' stuff?""It's because... I can't publicly 'show her off' just yet. It's so new to me. I haven't had a girlfriend since high school so now I've forgotten how to navigate an actual relationship. I've been the 'single' guy for so long that I don't know how to deal with having a girlfriend and having the whole world know it too. So I might as well be single with all this secret-keeping.""Well, surely having what seems to be an extremely supportive group of friends would make you feel that you can tell them?"Zach sighs. "I wish it was that simple. Anyway, yeah, you're the only person that knows that I'm officially dating someone. I feel like I could tell you because...you know what it's like being in a group of friends... but we're not actually in the same group of friends... I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense-""Zach. You're making perfect sense. Even with that rambling." They both laugh. "We have time. We could go shopping for groceries first-""Good idea because there is absolutely nothing in that fridge that isn't ice cream or frozen meals.""Then we can start cooking. Okay?""Sounds good."The two of them get into Zach's car. As sad as Antoni was to leave Bowie behind, he knew it would be pointless to go grocery shopping with a dog since you have to leave it in the car anyway.They arrive at Whole Foods."So what's it like becoming a superstar overnight?" Zach asks, trying to make conversation as Antoni pushes the shopping cart towards the fresh produce section. "You know, with Queer Eye?""It's funny. I was not famous at all before Queer Eye. I think Tan and I were in the same boat--even though I have been in front of a camera before unlike him, we had little to no fame before the show. I acted in a few things, which was brutal--work was really hard to come by, and I just was not making a name for myself with the tiny roles I got. I had to work in food service if I wanted to get by without my parents' help. I would consider my big break to be when I started cooking for Ted Allen, who was the food and wine guy for the original show. The pay was good, and I had already developed my love for food and cooking by then, so I really got to learn from him. I was so happy when I booked Queer Eye. And a year after we started filming, when it premiered, it gave me so much whiplash. People recognizing me on the street, the same streets I walked in when I wasn't famous, and them coming up to me and asking for a photo. It's weird."Zach stares at him. Antoni has said all of that in one breath as he was examining fresh parsley without even looking up.Antoni bags the parsley and places it in the cart. "What about you?" he asks."Huh? What do you mean?""Oh, come on. Don't tell me you don't know what being famous is like. You're Zach Kornfeld, one of the Try Guys. An Internet celebrity." Antoni waves his hands and looks in the distance, as if Zach's name was written in lights on a sign somewhere. "You've been famous for longer than I have, dude. Hello?" He slaps Zach's arm playfully. "Well... yeah." Zach rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "But it's more of a...muted kind of famous, you know? Mostly it's just people staring at me trying to figure out where they've seen me before. Other times it's people calling me by the name of one of the other Try Guys, or a different celebrity that I've never heard of but probably bear a resemblance to. Not that I'm complaining, of course. It's just that it does bother me that a lot of people think being a YouTuber isn't a real career, or that we're all frauds. Stuff like that."Antoni's expression softens. "Oh. Gotcha."Zach nods. Antoni pushes the cart to the deli section."If it makes you feel any better, Karamo did show us some parts from your videos with the Try Guys in the car, and I do think they're funny. I'm definitely gonna binge-watch them when I get home." Antoni grins. "If I hadn't been too busy trying to make it into acting these past few years, I would've definitely had the time to just sit back, go to YouTube and watch your videos."Zach rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "You're just saying that."After half an hour more at Whole Foods, they finally pack the groceries in the trunk of Zach's car and drive away."So what exactly are we gonna be making today?" Zach asks, once they got all the groceries into his kitchen. He had to swat Bowie away from the bags several times before Bowie finally got the hint.Antoni begins unpacking the groceries. "I'm going to be showing you how to make carbonara." Zach opens his mouth to complain that it was going to be too complicated and gets interrupted. "BEFORE you say anything, carbonara is actually one of the simplest pastas to make. Since we're using ham, you don't really need to defrost or cook it beforehand because it's cured meat. You just gotta chop it up and cook it in the white sauce."Zach is instantly relieved. "Okay, fair enough.""Now we are making the white sauce from scratch.""Oh, fuck.""Zach. Just listen to me. Don't downplay yourself before we've even started. Now, grab a bowl, 'cause we're gonna mix this heavy cream and milk together...."After what seemed like hours--which in reality was only around 45 minutes--Zach is transferring the carbonara from the stove into two plates under Antoni's supervision. He almost cut his finger off slicing the ham, and the pot of pasta nearly boiled over before Antoni hurriedly turned the burner off, but other than that, he didn't set his house on fire and both of them were still alive. He puts the parsley, which he had chopped earlier, on top of the pasta and he and Antoni dig in."Good, right?" Antoni asks enthusiastically, grinning while white sauce got stuck on his chin.Zach nods, grinning right back. "Yeah. Thanks for showing me how to do this.""And, if you actually listened and remembered everything I told you, you can definitely make this for your lady friend when you finally decide to tell the Try Guys you're dating her," Antoni says, winking.Zach couldn't believe his life in that moment. Here was a Netflix superstar in his kitchen, eating something he made, talking to him about his secret relationship. And they had never met before that day..."Can I tell you something?""What's that?" "I'm actually allergic to dairy. So expect a lot of farting soon."Antoni snort-laughs. "OH DUDE YOU'RE SO GROSS."...But he felt as if he had made a life-long friend.
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"Bye! See you guys later!" Eugene calls out to the rest of the Try Guys and the Fab Five as they part ways from Zach's house. He leads Bobby to his car, which is parked one street over. They slip their sunglasses on as the Los Angeles sun beat down on their faces."I'm really excited to see where all the magic happens," Bobby says, as Eugene unlocks his car and they slip inside."Well... I just hope it's not gonna be too much for you, Bobby," Eugene says.Bobby stares at him. "Why? Is it that bad?""Look... sharing an 'office' with three of your best friends who happen to be all straight men, who also happen to be slobs... there are just some things you can't scrub off." Eugene shudders. "Not to make it seem like I'm the only 'clean' person out of all of us. I can be a slob too, but I clean up after myself the most out of the four of us, 'cuz you know," Eugene gestures to his face. "Asian."
A few minutes later, they arrive at a suburban street not too different from where Zach lives."Wait, where are we? I don't see any office buildings," Bobby asks as he steps out of the car, confused."About that. I forgot to tell you. Our office is actually Ned's old house," Eugene says sheepishly."Oh, Eugene. You gotta give me a heads up when it comes to these things," Bobby says, as if he and Eugene had known each other for a long time.They cross the street to where the house is and Eugene unlocks the door. "We gave our crew the day off, the camera people, the sound guys and our researchers... they've been working really hard lately, and obviously you need all the space you can get if you're going to redecorate this... house."The door opens into one of the messiest living rooms Bobby had seen in a while. Sheets of paper were strewn all over the coffee table, empty soda cans littered the floor, random props, wigs, and costumes were lying on the sofa as if they were playing dress-up the night before. (Which they probably were.)Eugene notices Bobby staring at the mess. "Yeah... I guess our crew isn't any better than us either."Bobby has to duck to avoid hitting his head on some lighting equipment towering over him. "Oh, Jesus," he says."Whoops, watch your head. And watch where you walk too, you can trip on some wires," Eugene warns him."Oh my God, Eugene."They walk further through the house, reaching the dining area. The dining table and the chairs were all still there, acting as their break room/communal area. Food wrappers and empty snack boxes littered the dining table. On one side of the wall hung four rolls of paper in four different colours: pink, green, blue, and purple. Cameras and other filming and sound equipment were on a small table nearby."So I'm assuming this is where you guys film?""Yes."Ned and his wife Ariel's old house is a two-bedroom, one for them, and one guest room when any of their family members made the occasional visit. Eugene leads Bobby to the guest room."So this is where our editors do their work," Eugene says as he opens the door. Ned and Ariel had long since gotten rid of the bed, since it wasn't going to be a bedroom anymore, obviously. Now, the room is pretty bare of furniture, save for three small, old-looking desks and three even older-looking swivel chairs. Stacks of paper were placed on the floor next to the desks, binders and other stationery were on the desks haphazardly. More filming and sound equipment were on the floor in the middle of the room. Post-its were stuck to the wall in front of the desks, a large whiteboard hanging on the wall."Okay. Messy like the rest of the house but not too bad. Where do you guys work?" Bobby asks.Eugene leads him to Ned and Ariel's old bedroom, further down the hall but opposite the guest room. The furniture was newer than the ones in the editors' room but it was twice as messy and cluttered.Bobby sighs. "Oh my. Your guys' office is a real piece of work, Eugene.""Tell me about it."They walk back to the living room, Eugene removing costumes and props on the couch so he and Bobby could sit down. "So. What should we do?""Since we don't have as much time as a full-length episode of Queer Eye, I can't do a full renovation of this whole house, obviously. Like, I can't repaint the walls or anything like that. But what we can do is replace your editors' furniture, replace the old desks and the squeaky swivel chairs. The main thing I noticed is that both of the rooms were really messy and cluttered. Well, the whole house is messy and cluttered, but anyway. What we're gonna do is get you guys some much-needed storage furniture. Get you shelves, cabinets, nothing too fancy or complicated, just furniture where you can store your equipment and things like that, that could make your office look and feel like a real office. 'Cause Eugene, the floor is no place to store your stuff. Got it?"Eugene chuckles. "Got it."Bobby taps his chin. "I don't even know if we can build all the furniture by tonight, even if we call some of my crew to help. It could take us until tomorrow, which is fine by me, but I have to call the producers to make sure that's okay. Now, we're gonna go to IKEA so we can get started.""So," Bobby says, a few minutes after he and Eugene got in the car on the way to IKEA. "I hear you're the only LGBT guy out of the Try Guys."Eugene glances at Bobby for a second, then turns to look back at the road. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I am. I don't really know my exact label yet, so I just say I'm in the LGBT community.""I've only known you for a couple of hours, but I can clearly see you exude a lot of confidence. I wish I had that growing up.""Oh, this? I wasn't always this confident. I was bullied severely all through school, from first grade up until high school. Well... it might've gotten a little scarcer in my junior and senior years when most of us matured, but it still happened." Eugene sighs. "I guess I developed this confidence realizing just how good my life turned out to be, that it turned out way better than I thought it was going to when I was still in high school. It's like... if I got through the worst of that, then nothing can touch me anymore, you know?""I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did your coming out go?" Bobby asks.Eugene thought for a moment. "I guess it went well. I didn't come out until after I graduated high school, so the kids I went to school with didn't catch wind of it. I can't imagine what I would've done if they used both racism and homophobia to bully me." Eugene shudders again. "My parents were already divorced and were living separately by then, which I think made them cool with it, you know? Like, they knew they already fucked up their kids' home lives so me not being straight was the least of their worries. I came out to my mom first, then to my dad. My dad's a doctor so after I came out he gave me the sex talk, which was hilarious. 'If you do anything with butt, know about anal elasticity,'" Eugene says, imitating his dad's accent, which made Bobby burst out laughing.Bobby sighs, wiping tears of laughter from his eye. "God, I wish I had that."Eugene didn't know how to respond to that. He had heard of Bobby's backstory before, of course--the beautiful thing about the 2018 reboot of Queer Eye was that the Fab Five's life stories were divulged, unlike the original Bravo show. Bobby had shared with the audience his story about growing up very religious, but eventually needing to run away from his homophobic town. But Eugene has never been good at emotional conversations.Luckily, they arrive at IKEA. "Ah, we're here," Bobby says, before Eugene could come up with a proper reply. Saved by IKEA, he thinks, getting out of the car."So we need three desks, three swivel chairs, and at least four shelves, two for each of the rooms," Bobby says, pushing an industrial-sized cart. Eugene nods, ready to be at Bobby's beck and call during this shopping trip. The trip had taken a little over three hours. He forgot how big IKEA actually was, and just how packed it was with different options for furniture. But what really took the most time out of their trip was Bobby deciding which options were going to look and function the best in the Try Guys office. That was more time-consuming than perusing everything IKEA had to offer in terms of desks, swivel chairs, shelves, and cabinets. He asked for Eugene's opinions even if he was in charge of redecorating their office, which Eugene appreciated. It wasn't that obvious from the show, since Eugene felt Bobby had the least screentime out of the five of them, disappearing for most of the episode as he renovated a hero's house, but Eugene realized that Bobby was a perfectionist just like him. This made him happy, knowing he had something in common with an actual member of the Fab Five.Another thing Eugene appreciated: the shopping trip had no room for any more emotional conversations, which he was secretly relieved about. Even though he was known as the most 'private' out of the Try Guys, which he was, he had no problem sharing things about himself if the person had asked him in good faith, but what he always found difficult to do was giving out appropriate replies when someone else shared something about themselves. Bobby had only said six words, but Eugene felt how packed with emotion those six words were.It was just after noon when he and Bobby finally stepped out of IKEA. Some of Queer Eye's crew members met them in the parking lot with a pickup truck, since there was no way the furniture they bought would all fit in the back of Eugene's car. He and Bobby put the three boxes containing the parts for the swivel chairs in his trunk while the crew hauled the rest of the furniture. They drive away, the crew's pickup truck following behind them.They decided to build the desks and the swivel chairs for the Try Guys researchers' room, while the crew members Bobby had called were left to assemble the shelves and cabinets for both of the rooms. They moved the filming and sound equipment that littered the floor of the researchers' room as well as the main Try Guys' office into the living room so they could all have space to build the furniture.Eugene and Bobby sit on the floor of the researchers' room, the parts for the swivel chairs arranged neatly in front of them.Eugene laughs to himself."What's so funny?" Bobby asks, examining the pieces."Nothing, it's just... you're a major Netflix star sitting on the floor of some random house-office-hybrid with a YouTuber about to build some swivel chairs," Eugene replies. "It's surreal."Bobby laughs. "Actually, that is funny.""You told me I was confident before, which is partly true, but... there has never been a morning where I don't wake up and think, 'holy shit. I'm lying to everyone I know. This isn't me. I don't deserve any of this praise,'" Eugene says, unfolding the instruction sheet for the swivel chairs. "Then I see someone like you who so obviously works hard and gets the praise that they deserve, and I think, 'how can I be like them?'"Bobby stares at Eugene. "You know you sound like a crazy person, right?""How so?""Have you forgotten the thousands of people you help feel visible just by being you and making your videos? And I'm not just talking about young people, Eugene. You know what my husband Dewey told me once? We came across one of your videos, and he said, 'I wish I had someone like him to look up to when I was younger.' That's how important your videos are in this world right now, not just for young people, but for older people, too."Eugene smiled pensively. "You're right. I haven't forgotten the reason why I do this, to represent people who look like me, and the people who grew up like me. But sometimes... you know, self-doubt gets in the way. So thanks, Bobby.""You're welcome. You and I have more in common than you think. I am so happy knowing that your family was accepting of your sexuality, but now, you're doing it for the kids who got bullied because of what they looked like, because of where their family came from. Me? I'm doing it for the kids whose families weren't accepting of their sexuality, who got bullied not because of what they looked like but because of who they loved. Who got told time and time again that who they are was a sin against God."Eugene nods, but doesn't say anything. Bobby pats him on the shoulder and smiles. "Now, hand me that screwdriver, the third one from the left.""You know what else we have in common, Bobby?""What?""I noticed how long it took for you to decide on the best furniture options for our office back in IKEA. Is it safe to say that you're a perfectionist?" Eugene asks, grinning."Oh, honey. In this industry, any sort of creative field, whether it's interior design or online video producing, you can't afford not to be a perfectionist. Can you pass me that bag of nails?""Oh my God, tell me about it!" Eugene exclaimed, handing over the bag. "I keep telling the Try Guys that we should reshoot some shots because I know we could do better, and it's so annoying..."Eugene didn't know how his life came to this. He had the job of his dreams, doing what he loved most with three of his best friends, while he told stories about being a Try Guy to a genius interior designer who was building a swivel chair for his office. But he was sure of one thing: he should be so lucky to have anything in common with a person like Bobby Berk.
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Tan and Keith arrive at his apartment in East Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife Becky. Before Keith unlocks the door, Tan asks, "Wait, you don't have any big dogs around here, do you?"Keith laughs, opening the front door. "Don't worry. I'm not a dog person like the rest of the Try Guys. I don't hate dogs, I've got nothing against them, but I would never want them around me if I had a choice.""FINALLY, someone who understands!" Tan exclaims, putting his fists up in the air as Keith opens the door and they step into the living room. "Were you traumatized by dogs as a kid too?" he asks Keith."No. I grew up with eight dogs as a kid-""Eight?!" Tan exclaimed, putting his hand to his chest.Keith grinned. "Yeah. People assume I'm not a dog person because I'm not used to them, but it's because I grew up with them and know how much of a handful they are that I don't want to have them as an adult.""Huh. I never really thought about that. I've just always been scared of big dogs. I don't mind small ones," Tan says."Then you'll probably like Eugene's dogs. They're about the size of cats."Tan chuckles. "Now, let's get to business." He claps his hands once. "Show me the way to your closet, Keith."The door to Keith and Becky's bedroom was already open and they step inside. "This is my closet," Keith says, opening it. Tan stares inside for a few seconds, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing."Keith, I don't mean to be rude, but... that's it? These are all your clothes?" he asks, rifling through the hangers."Uh, yeah, those are all my clothes. My street clothes anyway. My pajamas are in those drawers," Keith says, pointing to a nearby cabinet. Tan doesn't look up."I thought Eugene was joking, but around eighty percent of these clothes are blue and plaid." Tan takes out a dark blue button-down and examines it, then puts it back. "What is it about Americans and plaid?""Yeah. I love blue and I love squares. I love blue squares on my clothes.""But I'm not here to judge you," Tan turns to Keith. "I've seen worse on men who are older than you. And I understand why a lot of your clothes are similar. It's your comfort zone."Keith nods after a couple of seconds. "Yeah. I guess you can say that. I've never really thought about stepping out of my comfort zone clothes-wise, you know? I know what I like, I know what looks good on me, I know what fits me, and I don't really see the point in changing it."Tan puts a finger to his chin. "Mhm, mhm, understandable. This has been a common problem amongst all our heroes on the show so far. But I'm here to tell you, Keith, that there's a way to elevate your clothes without completely stepping out of your comfort zone.""I would be very grateful if you showed me how," Keith replies.Tan had not spent a lot of time in Los Angeles. Aside from visiting Karamo and Bobby at their homes a couple of times, he never managed to stay long enough to thoroughly explore the city. Nevertheless, before they left Keith's apartment, he whipped out his phone to Google the address of a clothing boutique he had visited with a stylist friend a few years ago, hoping it was still in business. He was in luck."Turn right here," he instructs Keith. They are now driving to a place called BOWLS. A few minutes later, Keith parks the car and they both step into the store.They both look around. Tan notices the store looks different from when he first went there years back. It was renovated, and it looks better.He whips around to look at Keith. "Have you ever been to this place before?" he asks.Keith shakes his head. "No, I've never even heard of it.""Truthfully, the last time I was here was around five years ago, but I do remember loving the selection and thinking they would look good on you. It's along the lines of what you already like wearing, but it gives you variety, more options that are different from the clothes you have in your closet.""Okay."Keith notices his palms were properly damp. He realizes he had been sweating since they reached the front of the store and Keith got a glimpse inside. He had never heard of this store before but he had also never been inside any clothing store similar to this one. He saw a salesman stoically folding merchandise and he was wearing a three-piece suit, for God's sake."Now, let's look at some clothes, shall we?"Keith's heart starts to pound, which he thinks is insane. What does he have to be so nervous about? He is the most social person he knows, he loves people, so he knows this isn't social anxiety. But he is anxious. Since when does he get anxious?! His annoyance with himself courses throughout his entire body, making him feel warm. They pass by a mirror and he sees his entire face is red.Tan and Keith spend the next half hour perusing clothes, Tan seemingly oblivious to Keith's discomfort. Keith trails noiselessly behind him, only nodding and giving the occasional affirming sound whenever Tan holds up clothes and asks him what he thinks of it.Eventually, the stoic salesperson from before starts trailing behind them, carrying a pile of clothes Tan had chosen. Right before Tan could ask Keith if he was ready to go into the dressing room to try on the clothes, Keith's phone rang."Oh, it's my wife. I'm sorry, I have to take this," he says apologetically. "It could be an emergency.""No worries, mate, take your time," Tan says graciously."Hello? Mhm. Of course. Yeah, sweetie. Okay. I'll see you when I get home. I love you. Bye." Keith hurriedly crams the phone back into his pocket and blushes."What did she say? Wait, sorry, you don't have to tell me. Force of habit."Keith laughs awkwardly. "No, it's okay. She was just confirming if we're still on for dinner tonight. I promised her I won't be late. Actually... it's her birthday today.""Wow! Tell her happy birthday for me!""I've been feeling so guilty because I never spend either of our birthdays apart if I could help it. There was no way around the scheduling for today's filming but I promised her we'd have the best birthday dinner ever.""Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I hate spending birthdays away from my husband too. Are you ready to try these clothes on?""Yeah, absolutely." Keith moves to take the huge pile of clothes from the salesperson's arms. The salesperson sighs in relief. Keith has longer arms and he manages to carry all of it without breaking a sweat.Tan walks away from the dressing room, intending to give Keith some space. He looks around the store some more, then asks the production assistant how long Keith has been inside the dressing room. Usually the heroes on Queer Eye only take a couple of minutes to try on their first outfit before they step out and show it to Tan. The PA tells Tan Keith has been inside for seven whole minutes.Tan thinks this is peculiar. "Keith? Are you alright in there? Are you having trouble putting on any of the shirts? I can help you."When Keith didn't answer, Tan says, "Okay, I'm gonna come in. I hope you're decent, Keith, but if not, I'll look away."The dressing room only had a curtain for a door, which Tan partially opens to let himself in.Keith is fully clothed, dressed in a shirt and pair of chinos he and Tan had picked out. He is sitting on a little stool in the corner, his glasses askew, his chin resting on his hand, staring at the wall in defeat.Tan stares at him in alarm. "Keith, what's wrong? Did your wife call you again and something happened? What is it?"Keith finally looks up. "I can't do this, Tan. I'm so sorry for wasting your time.""Whatever do you mean? What's going on, Keith?"Keith swallows, wondering whether he should tell the truth or say something this Netflix superstar standing in front of him wants to hear. He sighs. "I looked in the mirror, and I just... I didn't like what I saw. It's like... I was pretending. Don't get me wrong, the clothes we picked out, they are objectively gorgeous, but I felt like I didn't deserve to wear them. They looked terrible on me, and I'm pretty sure it's my fault. And with my wife's birthday dinner, I wanted to look especially good for tonight, but I guess I'm just incapable of looking good, at least in these clothes."Tan scrutinizes Keith, but not unkindly. To Keith's surprise, Tan sits down on the dressing room floor right next to Keith. "Tan...?""So what do you wanna do now, Keith? It's completely up to you.""What do you mean?""I'm here to help you, and that means help you, not force you to do something you don't want to. If you wanna get out of here, we could, if that helps you. We don't have to buy clothes."Keith is taken aback. Is the fashion expert on Queer Eye seriously telling him they don't have to shop for clothes if he didn't want to?"N-no, it's okay. I'm sorry, just give me a minute-""Look, I was watching you before, Keith. You don't think I noticed you getting sweaty and red in the face while we were browsing the store? I didn't want to embarrass you by bringing it up because we're being filmed, and I thought you'd just tell me if something was wrong or making you uncomfortable. You kept agreeing with me whenever I showed you something, so I just thought everything was fine. But clearly it's not.""These kinds of stores... they just intimidate me. I'm the youngest of three sons, so almost all of my clothes were hand-me-downs. I've never really had to dress myself before. My wife buys the clothes I wear now. Seeing all these clothes and being expected to shop for myself, even with you around... it was all just too much."Tan didn't say anything, which made Keith less nervous, as if he was being encouraged to go on."The funny thing is, in Try Guys videos--I dunno if you've ever watched any--my schtick is being 'Beautiful Keith'. Being the center of attention. But that's because I'm a performer, I'm a comedian. I love making people laugh. But that doesn't mean it's because I think I'm the best-looking out of the Try Guys. And being a comedian, that has never really made me rely on my looks before. I just have to be funny, and I am. But doing this project that focuses on an improvement on my looks... it's new territory. And I'm lucky to be married to the most beautiful woman in the world, but now I'm starting to think that I have to look better, which terrifies me."Tan nods. "Keith, I apologize for not making more of a connection with you earlier. I admit I got distracted by the clothes a little too much and I got carried away. I'm sorry that the clothes made you feel this way.""You don't have to apologize, Tan, this is on me-""No, no. It's my job to help you. I know you haven't seen much of the show but I always tell our heroes, who are mostly straight men, to always make an effort for their wives. That just because you're married doesn't mean you can stop caring about how you present yourselves to each other. Them looking their best means they still care about their wives and their marriages, that they haven't let themselves go, so to speak. But you don't accomplish that in a single day, Keith. It takes time."Keith nods solemnly."How long have you and your wife been married? Becky is her name, right?""Yes. We've been married since last September, so a little over eight months now.""Oh that's right, you're newly-weds! Wow!""We've been dating for six years before I proposed. She's my best friend, she's seen me at my worst. She knows everything about me.""And that's exactly how I feel about my own husband Rob. And this isn't to say that you have to look your best every single day, because there are just some days where you don't feel like dressing up. And that's fine. But you just have to show her that you care.""Right.""Now, you said these clothes made you feel like you were pretending. That tells me these clothes don't feel like you. And they have to feel like you or else you won't be able to wear them with confidence anyway. Now get up."Keith stands up from the stool, unsure of what to do. "Change back into your own clothes. Where's the gentleman that helped us earlier? Ah, here he is," Tan says as the salesperson from earlier appeared right outside the dressing room. "Sir, we won't be needing these clothes after all. But I can assure you I will be telling all of my friends in Los Angeles to check this store out, because your clothes are amazing. We're sorry to bother you." The salesperson, whom they now realize is named Kent as the embroidery on his uniform says, nods graciously."What are we doing now?" Keith asks, closing the curtain behind him."We're gonna go into a different store. I've realized that just because I've been in the fashion industry for well over a decade now, and that I've been working on Queer Eye helping men like you dress better, doesn't mean I'm going to get it right every time on the first try. Some people's comfort zones are bigger than others' and it takes time to help them with it. I'm going to help you find clothes that feel more like you, and this time you have to tell me if you genuinely like them and not just if you think they look good on their own."Keith sighs in relief. "Yes, Tan. I understand now."Tan smiles, putting his hands on each of Keith's arms, assuring him. "Let's get out of here."Twenty minutes later, they arrive at a different clothing store, but a much less fancy one, Keith notices. It wasn't a men's boutique like the first one. This was bigger, more packed with people, families with their children, and it carried not just adult men's clothes but women's and children's clothes. It was a step above Target, where Keith usually shopped, but it definitely wasn't a fancy, intimidating boutique.Keith notices he's not sweaty anymore. He starts to relax for the first time that day.This time, he didn't wait for Tan to show him clothes that he thought would look good on him. He picked out shirts, cardigans, pants with subtle patterns that he wouldn't normally wear. He tried all of them and showed them to Tan, who was still required to give his approval as he was the fashion expert after all. They developed an understanding of how to let Keith take the lead, but with Tan's guidance every step of the way."Becky's going to love you in this," Tan says about a particular outfit Keith shows him. Keith was sticking to his love of blue shirts, but it was a darker shade of navy blue he has not worn a lot, with a subtle diamond pattern underneath a deep burgundy cardigan and army-green chinos."I agree," Keith says, looking in the mirror.Keith couldn't wait to get home and tell Becky she doesn't have to buy his clothes anymore. And he thought that was the best birthday present he could give his wife.