You probably recognise him from your childhood. Thom Filicia touched my heart as one of the members of MY fab five in the original series of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
That's right; there was a QEFTSG before Netflix's reboot, and it was funny and fabulous and groundbreaking for a lot of people to see representation on primetime television.
Plus they all dressed like this, because it was 2003.
Now fab fan favourites Filicia and Carson Kressley are back with a new show - but it's all about making over homes, rather than straight men.
But before we got into interior decorating chat, I had to ask Filicia a burning question I've had since I was 11: in his opinion, does the interiors guy on Queer Eye do the most work? Surely, when they're making over an entire apartment or whatever, while the others cook pasta and go to dance classes. Did Filicia ever feel short-changed?
"It was definitely the most complicated. Actually Carson and I were just talking about that the other day, he said he had no idea how had the interior part was - he was like, 'This is a nightmare'," Filicia laughs.
"But it's part of the deal and it's my job - so I'm pretty used to it. In reality, it took around five days," he explained - so not the hour and a half 10-year-old me thought.
With that settled, it was time to talk about Get a Room with Carson & Thom, a new Bravo show where Kressley and Filicia help decorate various homes: some massive with $100k budgets, some tiny apartments on which to spend $5k.
"We had a mix of high-end, bigger projects which were maybe a little more luxe, and also things that were a little more approachable," Filicia says.
"We wanted this to be about the way people live today. The spaces are bespoke to the individual, not just pretty spaces we like. It's about personality, architecture and lifestyle."
If you're anything like me, the way I live today is in an inner-city rental - and as I said to Filicia, it's tough to find ways to make the space your own when you can't touch floors or bang in one dangerous nail.
So what's the best way to personalise a rental space?
"You don't want to put a lot of resources and dollars into things you can't change, like floor treatments or wall treatments," Filicia says.
"So invest in a couple of great chairs with a punchy design, or invest in some beautiful artwork."
He also suggests bringing in colour through throws, cushions - all the things you can pack up into the car.
Filicia also changed my life by recommending 'Tempaper' - self-adhesive, removable wallpaper - to add some personality to a space that you might be leaving in a few months. The future truly is now.
Get a Room with Carson & Thom premieres in New Zealand on Bravo on December 3.
Newshub.
