CHICAGO — Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown is not only celebrating Pride in Chicago this year, but also the upcoming season of his talk show.
Season two of Brown’s talk show, Karamo, was recently renewed and will premiere in the fall. The show airs at noon on weekdays on CW26.
Brown said the show could also be called, “Life is Messy,” because it’s all about unpacking guests’ relationships and family struggles in a way that helps them to move forward.
“It’s not about exploiting people, it’s about showing that all of us go through the same things with the people we date, with our family members,” Brown said. “Part of my goal and gift on this earth is to be able to help people feel like they can get through challenging times in their lives.”
The show’s second season will delve further into guests’ family struggles— including conflicts between children and their parents and between married couples— because those were the topics the audience resonated with most, Brown said.
“I think we all feel good when we realize we’re not alone in going through these things,” Brown said.
Brown worked in psychotherapy for about a decade, so he draws from his professional training as well as his own experiences when connecting with his guests, he said.
“If there’s someone who needs to tell their dad, ‘You didn’t treat me and my siblings right growing up,’ my show is the place to do it because I’ll hear you,” Brown said. “Your feelings will be validated and then I’m going to give your dad a lesson that hopefully makes it better, that’s what we’re about.”
Brown is well-known for his role on Queer Eye, a show that premiered on Netflix in 2018 in which five gay people help guests turn their lives around by providing advice about their interior design, personal hygiene, fashion sense, culinary abilities and lifestyle.
Brown’s talk show Karamo expands on some of Queer Eye’s themes but allows more time for Brown to delve into the complexities of his guests’ challenges, he said.
“I love Queer Eye because everything gets put in a pretty package and glossed over, but that’s not real life,” Brown said. “My show is the reality of what happens a lot of times on Queer Eye. Life gets messy and I can’t solve everyone’s problems, but I can damn sure try.”
In addition to his work on Queer Eye and Karamo, Brown is also a dad, actor, podcast host and author, who’s published children’s books as well as a memoir.
Brown will attend Chicago’s Pride Parade June 25, riding in the CW26’s bus which will also include representatives from Block Club Chicago and On The Block.
Brown said he doesn’t mind missing New York’s pride celebrations to be in Chicago because it “hits all the things [he] loves about a city, as a Black gay man who loves art.”
“Even though it’s such a big city, Chicago has sort of a hometown, small-town vibe to it,” Brown said. “People are friendly. The food is good. I love the art. I love hanging out in the gayborhood, there are some of the best drag performers in the world. I’m very excited to be coming back and celebrating pride in Chicago.”
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