Antoni Porowski says he’s “left with more questions”

Antoni Porowski is stepping into a new chapter with “Best of the World With Antoni Porowski,” but he’s not moving on quietly from the controversy surrounding “Queer Eye.” Four months after the show ended, he says he’s “left with more questions than answers,” w

When Antoni Porowski talks about what happens after a public breakup, he doesn’t reach for a script. He talks like someone still sorting through the noise.

Four months after his “Queer Eye” chapter closed—after nearly a decade on the show—Porowski says he’s still “left with more questions than answers.” His new travel series. “Best of the World With Antoni Porowski. ” begins in a different key: he’s traveling to Mexico City. London. Paris and New York City. hosted and executive produced by him for National Geographic. The show premieres on June 7 and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

But the quiet before the launch didn’t come all at once. Porowski pointed to the fallout that followed the end of the series, including the way attention from behind-the-scenes drama threatened to eclipse the work that got done on-screen.

In January. Karamo Brown—who appeared on the Emmy-winning show with Porowski since 2018—pulled out of a “CBS Mornings” segment after expressing fears of bullying. In a statement. Brown said he’d felt he’d been “mentally and emotionally abused for years.” Brown’s decision added fuel to reports of tensions behind the scenes after a 2024 Rolling Stone investigation looked into cast member Jonathan Van Ness’ alleged emotionally abusive behavior. Van Ness has denied the allegations.

Porowski tells Variety that he felt the controversy became a distraction.

“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 says. “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].”.

He also addressed the way longtime viewers feared the drama might swallow the series’ final season. Porowski said he won’t let the mess become the story.

“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.”

“Queer Eye,” created in 2003 for Bravo, returned with a Netflix reboot that began airing in 2018. The show built its format around the core fab five: Porowski. Jonathan Van Ness. Brown. Tan France and Bobby Berk. who was replaced by Jeremiah Brent in Season 9. Over the years, it celebrated community and inclusivity, including featured contestants meeting openly queer people for the first time.

In “Best of the World. ” Porowski is trading the makeover routine for something more open-ended: he travels. eats. and asks questions. The show follows him experiencing different cultures and trying dishes. then asking locals across each of the four places he visits to explain the history behind every delicate dish he tries. The series also ties back to his previous work. It’s a natural extension from his 2025 National Geographic entry. “No Taste Like Home With Antoni Porowski. ” and from the Netflix cooking competition he hosted in 2022. “Easy-Bake Battle.”.

During this transition period, Porowski says he wants to focus on “human stories.” He describes how the job taught him to connect with other people and understand different perspectives and ways of doing things.

The timing also matters. Porowski said that traveling during a period of political unrest—especially in the U.S.—helped him see lived experiences beyond the feed.

“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.”.

Porowski’s new series is also, in a quieter way, about the same community that made “Queer Eye” resonate. The Netflix reboot quickly connected with a wide range of viewers, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, and it won a GLAAD award for best reality program in 2019.

In “Best of the World,” that idea shows up as he seeks connection on the road. He said he’s interested in finding LGBTQ+ community, and he pointed to the London episode as an example—ending 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.”

He described what it felt like to be part of a drag scene that could swing between different styles.

“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.”.

Despite the new show, Porowski isn’t pretending the old one is over in the way people often want it to be. He says he’s still only in touch with “some” of the cast, without naming names, and when asked about what comes next for the group, he said rhetorically, “Who knows what the future holds?”

He did speak about one former co-star’s post-“Queer Eye” project: he said he was impressed by Jeremiah Brent’s new Portuguese farm, which Brent refurbished with his husband, Nate Berkus.

“He did such a beautiful job. I know how much [he] is obsessed with preservation and attention,” Porowski said.

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

Asked about keeping up with the show’s legacy and what viewers should remember, Porowski returned to the simplest truth: the fab five weren’t built as friends before the cameras ever rolled.

Porowski said the only person he’d ever heard of before joining was Jonathan Van Ness, known for “Gay of Thrones,” because he used to watch it. Beyond that, he said they didn’t know each other.

“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,” he said. “Yeah. I think I’ll leave it at that.”

For now. Porowski is doing the one thing he says he can control: turning his attention outward. while still holding the unanswered questions close enough that they don’t disappear. “Best of the World” is scheduled to arrive just after the calendar flips to June 7—but the emotional work. he suggests. is still ongoing.

Antoni Porowski Queer Eye Best of the World With Antoni Porowski National Geographic Disney+ Hulu Karamo Brown Jonathan Van Ness Jeremiah Brent Tan France LGBTQ community GLAAD award