“Queer Eye” star Bobby Berk announced Monday that he would be leaving the Netflix reality series after its eighth season, noting that it was a “necessary” decision.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that Season 8 will be my final season on ‘Queer Eye,’” the Netflix personality told fans in an Instagram post. “It’s not been an easy decision to be at peace with, but a necessary one. Although my journey with ‘Queer Eye’ is over, my journey with you is not. You will be seeing more of me very soon.”
In a statement to TheWrap, Netflix confirmed Berk’s departure. “We appreciate the heart and dedication Bobby Berk brought to ‘Queer Eye’ over eight amazing seasons,” the streamer said. “He will always be a member of the Fab Five family and we wish him the very best.”
Berk opened up his post with an outpouring of gratitude for “Queer Eye” fans, whose support made it possible to “share the healing powers of design,” while also enabling him to grow.
“I learned from you all about kindness, love and acceptance, and that has changed my life for the better,” he wrote. “The way you have embraced me and accepted me for who I am is something that l will truly carry with me for the rest of my life.”
He continued by thanking the reality show’s “wonderful, loving, amazing and brave heroes” for letting me into your homes and hearts, noting that that “it’s all because of you that I’ve kept going all these years and each and every one of you have changed me for the better.”
“I love you all so, so much and I’ll meet you all in Nola for one final season,” Berk concluded, referencing the upcoming eighth installment of “Queer Eye” taking place in New Orleans, which costar Karamo Brown revealed to TheWrap had already been filmed.
On the show, Berk made up one of the Fab Five, alongside Brown, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski. Following Berk’s announcement, his costars shared their love for him, with Brown commenting, “I’m about to be [at] Netflix’s door and emails telling them you can’t leave!”
Despite Berk’s exit from the show, Brown told TheWrap that he hopes “Queer Eye” will continue for several additional installments as he simultaneously films his daytime talk show, “Karamo.”
“I want to go back, because I love those four yahoos that I work with,” Brown told TheWrap in September. “I just really hope that we continue to go on — we’re only in Season 7. We’ve already shot Season 8 before all of this [the Hollywood double strike] went down. So I’m hoping we at least go to Season 10, or at least 12.”
“Queer Eye” Seasons 1-7 are now streaming on Netflix.
