After he announced his departure from Netflix, fans around the world were shocked and trying to understand what exactly happened to Bobby Berk on Queer Eye and why he left the series. In the months since Berk’s announcement, some behind-the-scenes drama has come to light—and it may have contributed to the end of his tenure on the hit makeover show.
The interior design expert, who spent six years transforming spaces and lives alongside his fellow Fab Five members, became a fan favorite for his ambitious room renovations and genuine connections with the show’s heroes. But as new details emerge about his exit—including allegations of cast tensions and conflicting accounts of whether he voluntarily quit or was fired from the series—the story behind his departure has become much more complicated than it initially appeared on the surface.
So, what happened to Bobby Berk on Queer Eye?
It all started with what appeared to be a graceful goodbye. In November 2023, Berk took to social media to announce his exit, writing, “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.”
At first, the interior designer suggested this was an amicable split from the series, with People magazine reporting that Berk’s departure was “unrelated to relationships with his castmates.” In January 2024, Berk would eventually open up to Vanity Fair, revealing that his decision mostly came down to the original cast’s seven-cycle contract having ended in September 2022. He was the only one who chose not to sign on for more seasons, citing other projects in the works. But the real bombshells were yet to come.
Why did Bobby Berk really leave Queer Eye?
In March 2024, Rolling Stone published a Queer Eye exposé featuring interviews with ten production insiders, which painted a picture of some major tensions behind the scenes. The report revealed that Berk’s relationships with castmates Tan France and Jonathan Van Ness had become particularly strained during his final season on the series.
The report included some particularly shocking allegations about Van Ness’ behavior on set, with three sources describing the hairdresser as emotionally “abusive” and prone to “rage issues.” According to one production member, “There was absolutely tension between everybody else, especially from Jonathan Van Ness. He didn’t want to ever share the spotlight with anyone.” The situation allegedly became so tense that some scenes couldn’t be filmed with certain Fab Five members together.
Van Ness later addressed these allegations on the “Table Manners” podcast in June 2024, calling the article “overwhelmingly untrue and done in bad faith.” However, the JVN Hair founder did acknowledge moments of stress, saying, “There have obviously been times throughout my career where you’re stressed out, or I may have been elbow-deep in highlights and was like, ‘No, I can’t talk about that right now.’”
In his January 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Berk also acknowledged some tensions with Tan France, telling the magazine, “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. It was something personal that had been brewing—and nothing romantic, just to clarify that.”
A few months later, France referred to Berk’s departure as a “firing”—a direct contradiction to the voluntary exit narrative. The stylist took to Instagram to address rumors that he had orchestrated Berk’s replacement with his friend Jeremiah Brent. “My former colleague getting fired had nothing to do with me trying to get my friend hired,” he shared in March 2024. “Netflix and the production companies did a full-on casting.”
As the dust settles, interior designer Jeremiah Brent—known for The Rachel Zoe Project and his marriage to Nate Berkus—is set to take over Berk’s role. Meanwhile, Berk’s response to the ongoing drama has remained notably neutral: when France made his Instagram statement, Berk simply tweeted a GIF of Michelle Obama saying, “When they go low, we go high!”
