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Tan France upgrades people’s outfits on Queer Eye. He is such a good part of the Fab Five, but he almost walked away from the show during the first season. Find out why he almost left the show early and what was his first impression of his fellow cast member, Jonathan Van Ness.

Tan France admitted he wasn’t sure if he’d become friends with Jonathan Van Ness at first

The Fab Five have great chemistry. They didn’t know each other before the show, but something clicked during the casting process.

“It was really amazing because they had like an instant bond in the casting,” David Collins told Bustle. “I stood in front of the top 50 and gave my kind of welcome spiel speech to them all, and [the Fab Five] said when I was doing that they all locked hands and looked at each other and were like, ‘Let’s do this.’ And ultimately that’s what happened. The chemistry revealed itself.”

France did admit that there was one person he didn’t know if he would hit it off with out of his fellow cast members. That would be Jonathan Van Ness.

“I thought, ‘Gosh, I don’t think we’re ever going to be friends. He’s so loud,’” he told Us Weekly. “And then we both got the job. I was like, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to have to find a way to find a connection with him.’”

Of course, everything worked out. “Jonathan Van Ness is the most unique person I’ve ever met in my life,” he said. “He’s nothing like anyone you will ever meet. He’s so loud. He’s so loving and lovable, but because he’s so open, I was surprised by it.”

He offered to leave Queer Eye because he felt like he was ruining the show

Tan France and event moderator Antoni Porowski attend 'Queer Eye's Tan France in Conversation with Antoni Porowski'
Tan France and event moderator Antoni Porowski attend ‘Queer Eye’s Tan France in Conversation with Antoni Porowski’ | Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images

The fashion designer is a huge part of the reality show, however, he was worried that he was ruining it. He wrote about going to creator David Collins in Season 1 offering to walk away in his memoir, “Naturally Tan.”

“I’m not the kind of person who was raised in a family [that says], ‘You can do anything!’ I’m definitely not American. I’m British and also South Asian, which means I always think I’ll fail miserably until somebody actually does hold a mirror up and shows that I’m able to do this,” France explained to the Washington Post.

He continued, “When you’ve never been in front of the camera before, it can be terrifying, and I suffer from really bad anxiety a lot of the time because it’s all so new to me and I’m actually quite shy. I hope this encourages people to just step out of their comfort zone and try something they normally wouldn’t try.”

The good news is that France obviously stuck around with his cast members. He will also be co-hosting a competition called Next in Fashion with Alexa Chung.

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