Antoni Porowski Addresses the ‘Queer Eye’ Drama, Finding LGBTQ+ Community on ‘Best of the World,’ and Why He’s Still ‘Left With More Questions Than Answers’

After starring in the same show for nearly a decade, Antoni Porowski — who says he “gets off” on the unknown — finds himself in a remarkable transition period in his career.

In his first post-”Queer Eye” adventure, he traveled the world to Mexico City, London, Paris and New York City as part of his new show, “Best of the World With Antoni Porowski,” which he hosts and executive produces for National Geographic: It premieres on June 7, streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu,

Four months after the “Queer Eye” chapter of his life closed, which introduced him to a legion of LGBTQ+ fans and foodies, Porowski admits he’s still left with more questions than answers. Karamo Brown, who was on the Emmy-winning show with Porowski since 2018, unexpectedly pulled out of a “CBS Mornings” segment in January due to fears of bullying, saying in a statement he’d felt he’d been “mentally and emotionally abused for years.” Brown’s action added fuel to reports of behind-the-scenes tension after a 2024 Rolling Stone investigation dug into cast member Jonathan Van Ness’ alleged emotionally abusive behavior. (Van Ness has denied the allegations.)

“For anybody who’s paying attention to how all of that ended, I was sad that I felt like it served as a distraction in honoring the countless people who’ve worked on the show from day one up until the very end, and those who have come and gone — both in front of and behind the camera,” Porowski tells Variety. “If I’m honest, I think I’m left with more questions than answers, but what I hope is that the people who honor the show understand the help that we did and the commitment we [had].”

Originally created in 2003 for Bravo, Netflix’s reboot of “Queer Eye” began airing in 2018, following the core fab five of Porowski, Van Ness, Brown, Tan France and Bobby Berk (replaced by Jeremiah Brent in Season 9) as they gave people makeovers. The show celebrated community and inclusivity, with many of the featured contestants meeting openly queer people for the first time.

Acknowledging any “Queer Eye” fans who felt the drama and controversy overshadowed the last season, Porowski says, “I refuse to let however it ended be a distraction from the messaging because the messaging, I swear to you, was always real and always coming from a truthful place. That’s what I choose to take with me from it.”

Now, Porowski says he’s only in touch with “some” of the cast, although he doesn’t give names, saying rhetorically, “Who knows what the future holds?” When asked about keeping up with his former co-star’s own post-“Queer Eye” projects, he says he was impressed by Brent’s new Portuguese farm, which he refurbished with his husband, Nate Berkus: “He did such a beautiful job. I know how much [he] is obsessed with preservation and attention.”

The leap from ensemble to solo hosting duty happened quickly; roughly three months after production on “Queer Eye” Season 10 wrapped in Washington, D.C., Porowski began his journey around the world.

“Best of the World” follows Porowski experiencing different cultures and, of course, trying some delicious food. He asks locals across all four places he visits to explain the history behind every delicate dish he tries. This makes the show a clear extension from his previous National Geographic entry, 2025’s “No Taste Like Home With Antoni Porowski,” and the Netflix cooking competition he hosted in 2022, “Easy-Bake Battle.”

During this transition period, Porowski says he’s interested in telling “human stories. I was taught the importance of that on ‘Queer Eye,’ connecting with other people and just understanding other perspectives and ways of doing things.”

Traveling the world during a period of political unrest, especially in the U.S., opened Porowski’s eyes to other lived experiences.

“There’s no shortage of petrified fear, anxiety and stress that I experience on a daily basis, in small ways and big ways, as soon as I open my phone and look at social media and all the atrocities that are happening [here],” he says. “It’s not to take away from the reality of the fact that all of that stuff is very real and very much happening. But when I travel the world and suddenly I put on a local news station, I learn that there are atrocities happening everywhere. And there are people that are thriving everywhere.”

Netflix’s reboot of “Queer Eye” quickly resonated with a wide range of viewers, but especially those in the LGBTQ+ community; it won the GLAAD award for best reality program in 2019. Porowski continues to draw on his own queerness and desire to find community in “Best of the World.” The London episode, quite memorably, ends at an electric drag bar on a night out.

“Part of my history and my identifying as a queer person, and also being a public figure and the attention that draws and the electricity it brings into a room can cause me anxiety, sometimes, if I’m not fully at peace with myself,” he says. “But showing up there was so beautifully chaotic.”

“Some drag queens and kings were ultra-refined and had their steps perfectly choreographed, and others were just so wacky and all over the place,” he adds. “There were several moments where I forgot the cameras were rolling and I was just screaming at the top of my lungs, not conserving my energy. I literally couldn’t speak the next day because I yelled so much. It was a lot of honey and ginger chamomile tea as I was passing out in my London hotel that night.”

Looking back on the show that introduced the actor into millions of households across the world, Porowski wants “Queer Eye” fans to remember that the fab five “were cast as complete strangers.”

“The only person I’d ever heard of was [Jonathan Van Ness] with ‘Gay of Thrones,’ because I used to watch it,” he says. “We didn’t know who we were, and we’re very different people, different ways of navigating the world as is the case. We were put into this thing together, and we all dealt with things in very different ways. Yeah. I think I’ll leave it at that.”