Queer Eye for the Stripped Guy

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ran into a daunting challenge last week while shooting an episode for the summer season: How do you make over a nudist?

Clotheshorse Carson Kressley could have been expected to throw up his hands over the fortysomething Mr. Natural from New Jersey, but Carson didn’t end up just urging a trip to an electrolysis center and calling it a day. After all, even a nudist must dress for trips to the post office and supermarket. “Linens and loose-fitting drawstring pants that are easily shed-able,” suggests Bravo’s VP of Production and Programming Andrew Cohen.
The episode presented hurdles for editors, too. The naked guy’s naughty bits will be blurred with “unobtrusive” pixelation, Cohen says, adding that the fab five might doff their carefully chosen wardrobes as they “get into the nudist’s lifestyle.” Somehow, that wouldn’t be a shock. The season starts June 7 with a makeover of the Boston Red Sox. (Why that red? It’s awfully maraschino, isn’t it? How about claret, or coral?)
Meanwhile, in other Bravo fashion news: The hundreds of designers who flocked to the Project Runway casting call in New York City last week will have some consolation if they’re not chosen: The hit show (up 468%, to more than 2 million viewers, over the course of its first season this winter) is considering cobbling together footage from the tryouts, which were also held in Los Angeles, Miami and Houston, for American Idol-style audition episodes. Careful, Heidi Klum, don’t get too Idolesque with your show, or Primetime Live may come snooping.