After eight seasons, Bobby Berk‘s work on Queer Eye is done. The 42-year-old interior designer announced in November 2023 that he was leaving the Emmy Award-winning Netflix reality series. “It’s not been an easy decision to be at peace with, but a necessary one,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “Although my journey with Queer Eye is over, my journey with you is not. You will be seeing more of me very soon.”
Bobby has been one of the “Fab Five” alongside Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, and Karamo Brown since Queer Eye premiered in 2018. But Bobby will not be continuing on the series for season 9 and beyond — and he has a valid explanation for why.
Why Is Bobby Berk Leaving ‘Queer Eye’?
Bobby opened up about his decision to leave Queer Eye in an interview with Vanity Fair published January 25. He said the Fab Five’s contracts originally expired in September 2022, so he “started planning other things” in his career. But Netflix offered the cast a deal for four more cycles amidst the Hollywood strikes in 2023. Bobby declined the offer and thought his co-stars would do the same, but they resigned with the show.
“With only one of us not coming back, Netflix felt [it] could recast one person,” he said in the interview. “There were definitely emotions. But each one of us had our reasons why we did what we did,” Bobby added about the rest of the Fab Five staying with the show. “I can’t be mad—for a second I was.”
Bobby also confirmed that he doesn’t regret quitting the show after eight seasons. “All the plans that I had made when I thought we weren’t coming back, I just wasn’t willing to change those. I would have had to pump the brakes on multiple other projects that are already in process. We had mentally just prepared ourselves to move on—that’s why I left,” he said
As for what he’s doing after Queer Eye, Bobby revealed that he’s focusing on many things including expanding his interior design firm. “I want to create things, cultivate, and help discover talent that you don’t see on TV—different nationalities, different origins of people in design,” Bobby said. “It’s my era of building and developing.”
What Happened Between Bobby Berk and Tan France?
In his Vanity Fair interview, Bobby addressed the speculation that he had a falling out with Tan and confirmed he unfollowed his co-star on Instagram.
“Tan and I had a moment,” Bobby shared. “There was a situation, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show. It was something personal that had been brewing—and nothing romantic, just to clarify that.” Bobby continued, “Should I have unfollowed Tan? No. Maybe I should have just muted him. But that day, I was angry, and that’s the end of it. We became like siblings—and siblings are always going to fight.”
The reality star said that he and Tan “both embraced each other, and we both said congratulations” when they crossed paths at the 2023 Emmy Awards, where Queer Eye won Outstanding Structured Reality Program for the sixth year in a row.
“I will always have a very special place in my heart for him and Rob [Tan’s husband] and the kids. I can foresee in six months or a year, Tan and I at each other’s house being good. The Emmys was already the first bandage on that wound,” Bobby added.
When Is Bobby Berk’s Final Episode of ‘Queer Eye’?
Bobby’s final season of Queer Eye is already out on Netflix! All six episodes of season 8 dropped January 24 on the streamer. Season 9, which will be the first to not feature Bobby, is expected to film in Las Vegas in 2024.
Who Is Replacing Bobby Berk On ‘Queer Eye’?
Netflix has yet to announce a replacement for Bobby on Queer Eye. It’s unclear who will fill his role as the interior designer of the Fab Five, but fans already have some picks. Brian Patrick Flynn, Carmine Sabatella, David Bromstad, Nate Berkus, and Jonathan Adler have all been thrown out there as possibilities to replace Bobby.
Bobby shared his advice for his replacement in the Vanity Fair interview. “Open up your heart,” he said. “Keep an open mind. Don’t get discouraged. And have fun. [And] Be nice to my siblings!”