‘Queer Eye’ newbie Jeremiah Brent cries a lot, but he is so productive
“I’m never going to survive this show,” Jeremiah Brent, the new member of “Queer Eye,” declares early into this season, wiping back tears.
Brent joined the ninth season of the Netflix series, stepping into the role of interior designer previously held by Bobby Berk, whose complicated exit from the series last year generated headlines over behind-the-scenes drama. In the short time since the season launched, Brent has made an endearing impression as the walking, talking, crying face emoji of the Fab Five.
Who knew a makeshift canopy bed could prompt an ugly cry? If you know, you know.
The TV makeover space is familiar territory for Brent. He and his husband, noted interior designer Nate Berkus, whose popularity rose after appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the aughts, have worked on the TLC series “Nate & Jeremiah by Design” and HGTV’s “The Nate and Jeremiah Home Project.”
In a video call from his home in New York City, Brent spoke with the Times about all those tears, the challenge of transforming spaces in three days and texting with HomeGoods managers.
Jeremiah, are you OK?
[Laughs.] Somebody came up to me today — what did she say? She’s like, “There’s a whole campaign where people are saying, ‘Someone’s got to check on Jeremiah.’” I’m great. Listen, I’ve never been better. I definitely wept the whole time, as you can see. But it was happy tears.
You’re familiar with changing people’s lives by transforming their spaces. How is this different?
I’ve never dealt with the stakes that this show has inherently built in. I really get three days to redo their entire home from top to finish, which I’ll never complain about because I love the work and I love doing it, but it’s intense. Something that I set for myself as a goal this season is that I don’t want to be known as somebody who makes the same room 40 different ways and is known as one-note. The spaces that I was designing were not for the viewer. They were for the people in the house, and I really wanted you to see their personalities reflected in those spaces. With Paula, I’m not somebody who reaches for bunnies and hummingbirds and flowers, but that is what brought her joy.
The season has been out for about a week at this point. What has the ride been like so far? What kind of messages are you getting?
Not to get emotional, but I’ve been kind of overwhelmed with how kind people have been. I came into this season with an acute awareness of what I was inheriting. The show was in a lot of controversy the last year. There was a lot of drama, a lot of versions of people’s truth that not everybody was aligned on. My only intention in coming into the show was to work my ass off and to earn the trust of the people that are watching and also to do a really good job meeting people and doing what I love. I’ve been really grateful people have been super positive. To your point, the emotional component is just a reflection on how much people are looking for hope and positivity right now. This show is a Trojan horse in a lot of ways because we tackle really important issues. We have immigration, we have aging, we’re dealing with a mother with trans children — you name it. Every part of the American experience is in this show, part of the tapestry that’s in there. It’s the kind of conversations I want to be having and the kind of work that I need to be doing at this point in my life.
There was that moment on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens” where host Andy Cohen asked Karamo [Brown] about whether he hazed you. He said he just wanted to make sure you were qualified. But could you sense that they were feeling you out in those early days?
Just like I needed to earn the trust of the viewers, I needed to earn the trust of the rest of the Fab Four. In my experience, they are the opposite of any controversy that’s come their way or been articulated in the last year. They are the kindest, the warmest, the most well-intended people. They work their ass off and they really care about the people. I had to come in there and really show them what I was about. I think after that first week, they grabbed me and pulled me in. So it was quick and all of a sudden they were a part of me. Now I talk to them every day.
Browse the Instagram feeds of any of the “Queer Eye” hosts and see their comments to each other, and it’ll be hard not to question the depth of the friendships in your own life.
You’ve said before that you’ve never met Bobby — you were on a panel with him once before, but didn’t meet — and didn’t connect with him since joining the show. Did you want to? And what would you say to him about the foundation he set in this reboot?
I have a tremendous amount of respect for anybody who has put themselves in and done the work that he’s done. Eight seasons is a long time. It just speaks to the relationship that he had with the viewers, how stressed out everybody was that he was not going to be there in the next season. Creativity should never be and doesn’t ever need to be adversarial. There’s so much beauty and there’s so much opportunity. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for what he did and my commitment coming into the show was to honor what the show is and what it’s been, to put my own spin on it, just because I’m my own person.
Did you have any stipulations going into this experience — like, “If I’m going to do this right or in a way that really serves these people, we’re going to need to up the budget a little bit”? Did the budget get bigger?
I wish. The budget was less. There’s a fun fact — run that as the headline! Because somebody said to me the other day, they’re like, “It looks like the budget went up.” I was like, “It didn’t.” I was on the phone constantly. I was scouring local areas. I was at every HomeGoods you’ve ever heard of. I was at every flea market you’ve ever heard of. There’s an amazing team that never gets the credit they deserve — the design team behind the scenes. It’s actually been there forever. I was like, “I want real marble.” I would scour salvage yards and marble that had been thrown away. I was just getting scrappy because I meet these people, and I really want to give them everything I can. And they’re asking for nothing. That’s the beauty of it.
You mentioned HomeGoods, and I didn’t know if you meant HomeGoods the store or home goods stores. Because the thought of you in my mecca is everything.
HomeGoods, the store. I met the managers at the HomeGoods and I would have them text me. There’d be a Tuesday drop, usually; sometimes it’d be a double drop. I’d be in there and I’d be like, “Go to the crystal aisle. Let’s see what lamps came in.” I would be at every Michaels I could find. I would be at every Target that existed. I was scouring and it was all there.
What was the most emotional moment for you? Two come to my mind: Nicole and Jen’ya. I ugly sobbed.
I cried with everyone, as you can see. I’m a real pillar of strength over here. Jen’ya was really important to me on a personal level and I said this in the episode. To have been raised by a single mother for the first half of my life, there’s just no way that you can explain how hard it is unless you’ve been raised by one or are one. The fact that I got to be a part of making her life easier — and she didn’t apply to be on that show. She was somebody that my mother-in-law knew of and put her forward. I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to pay it forward.” It just was totally random coincidence. She was so fully in the moment. I sat there and watched as her shoulders — just like Nicole — all of a sudden went back. The smile was brighter. You just felt them move through something, and to be a part of something like that is just wild.
Each episode introduces us to a “hero,” a person in need of guidance, who is delivered into the capable hands of the Fab Five hosts: Tan France, style; Bobby Berk, design; Karamo Brown, culture; Antoni Porowski, food and wine; and Jonathan Van Ness, grooming.
When Jen’ya fell to her knees by her bed, how do you move in a moment like that?
Just so you know, the reveal was an hour and a half long because she and I could not pull it together. At one point, her eyelash was literally on her chest, and I was like, “I’m the wrong queen. I don’t know what to do with this.” We were completely unraveled. Here’s why that moment was so important for me. This is a woman of complete faith. Faith, for her, is the answer to everything, and for her to see us and to feel like we are a part of that faith, that we are included in it, that we’re the conduit for what Jesus is bringing to her life that she needs, it’s really profound. We were all a mess that week.
The moment with Nicole where something as seemingly unimportant as a canopy bed takes on so much meaning in its attachment to what she feels deserving of was so touching to watch.
She wouldn’t say anything either. I could not pull it out of her. I knew within two seconds of meeting Nicole who she was. The power that she held inside of her that she was hiding, I could feel it. So that whole design was about creating this power, this elegance, this idea that she’s the queen, that she has this authority. The fact that she connected to that that quickly and was so vulnerable just speaks to the show and how hard everybody, especially the other four, are all working to kind of just make people feel safe.
It was quite the moment for canopy beds. I’m sure you’ve used canopy beds before and never had a reaction like that.
That’s the power of design. And by the way, that was a curtain rod and some extra fabric that I had found and we had sewed to make it affordable.
For one hero, you created a small dog park — Mr. Piffles Magical Playground — at a casino. Sometimes you’re dealing with HOAs or the heroes are renting and you have to be mindful of what you can do. What was the most challenging space?
Every single house was severely challenging for different reasons. We had a lot of our heroes that didn’t own their home and I couldn’t do any construction. It was all about what I could add cosmetically. To get a dog park built in Las Vegas was an absolute nightmare. You don’t see the stress of the board meetings and the county arguing with me about a fountain. They’re like, “You can’t put a fountain. There’s some drought here.” I’m like, “That’s fair.”
How much prep time do you have before meeting the heroes and coming up with a design?
None.
What?
None. I get an idea of who we’re meeting. I walk the space for the first time that you see on camera. I think there was twice that I went in early and I didn’t like it and so I do it in real time. Then the design team comes in. They’re in a van waiting outside. As soon as our scenes are done, we get to work; they move out the stuff. I’m sitting there designing and sketching and drawing, because I draw everything, and I have to create it first visually, and then we go to sourcing. It’s in real time. I’m uniquely qualified for it. I like the chaos of it.
Was there a space where you almost didn’t finish in that time frame?
I’m always early.
What? How? There’s so little time you have to work with.
There was never a delay from design. I am a psycho. I place every piece of furniture. I place every book, every candle, every pillow. I have a design team, but they would be like, “Can you let somebody do something?” And I’d be like this, “You guys have helped get it here, let me just put it where it needs to go.”
It’s been some time since you all wrapped filming. What was the last thing that made you cry outside of the show?
My daughter’s Christmas list. I fell apart. I wish I could tell you I’m cooler. I’m getting choked up thinking about it. It was nothing to do with fancy things. Her letter was, “I hope you had a beautiful summer, Santa. I’ve done this, this and this. I hope you see.” It was just beautiful. I got super emotional with it.
If it’s any consolation, you’re not an ugly crier.
If you say so. I looked awfully dry in Vegas. I was like, “What happened? She needs the facial. What was going on?”
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