Bobby Berk is ready to address rumors that there’s been a rift between him and fashion designer Tan France, his “Queer Eye” co-star.
In a Vanity Fair interview published online Thursday, the interior designer said that he wanted to “extinguish” speculation surrounding their alleged feud, though he conceded that he had at one point hit a rough patch with France.
“I want people to know that Tan and I—we will be fine,” he said.
“Tan and I had a moment,” he later added. “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.”
Some fans of the Netflix reality makeover series had suggested in November that things between the “Fab Five” co-stars — Berk, France, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness — weren’t so fabulous. Berk appeared to unfollow France on Instagram that month.
People also assumed that the pair’s apparent clash had something to do with Berk announcing on social media the week prior that he would be departing the show after its eighth season.
But Berk explained to Vanity Fair that his relationship with France had nothing to do with his exit from the series. He said that the cast’s contract had expired in September 2022, and that he had already moved on when Netflix presented a new contract.
“We thought we were done,” he said. “Mentally and emotionally, I thought we all moved on. I know I did, and I started planning other things.”
“Queer Eye” has since been renewed for Season 9. Berk told Vanity Fair that his co-stars are slated to return.
The interior designer acknowledged that unfollowing France on Instagram wasn’t the best move, but that he was “angry” at the time and that they fight like siblings.
“I can foresee in six months or a year, Tan and I at each other’s house being good,” he said.
A representative for France did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.
“Queer Eye,” a reboot of early 2000s show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” debuted on Netflix in 2018.
The show follows the Fab Five as they use their expertise to help transform the lives of individuals — known as “heroes” — with both physical and emotional makeovers.
Berk told the Man About Town publication last year that he was “passionate about the connection between design and mental health.”
He released his first book, “Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good for the Mind: An Interior Design Book,” in September.
The designer, who is responsible for the stunning home makeovers featured in the series, thanked the show’s “die-hard fans” in the November social media post announcing his departure.
“Throughout these years, you, the die-hard fans of Queer Eye, have all shared so many stories with me about how the show has touched your lives and I could not be more grateful to each and every one of you for being brave enough to share your experiences,” he wrote.
Season 8 of “Queer Eye,” set in New Orleans, premiered Wednesday on Netflix.
