January 21, 2026
Ryan Collerd/Netflix
'Queer Eye' is ending after 10 seasons. People who appeared on the Philly season, including Tyreek Wanamaker (far right), say their personal and professional lives have changed significantly since they shot their episodes.
When Philly native Tyreek Wanamaker filmed his episode of “Queer Eye," he struggled to sleep in his own bed, often crashing on the couch instead over fear of getting "too comfortable." Nearly six years later, he says, things are a little different.
"I love my bed," he said. "I almost live there sometimes. So that definitely changed a lot.
"Honestly, thinking back on the time before the show … it's really like a night and day difference. The entire way that I view rest and boundaries as a practice has shifted more toward priority. I build my life around rest."
"Queer Eye," the Netflix reality reboot of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," has promised this kind of transformation since its 2018 premiere. The show sends its charismatic gay and non-binary hosts into homes across America, where they deliver new wardrobes, haircuts and perspective. One last batch of "heroes" receives these makeovers in the series' 10th and final season, set in Washington, D.C., and streaming as of Wednesday.
Those who went through the process in Philadelphia say the effects linger long after the cameras cut. PhillyVoice checked in with three people who appeared in Season 5, which filmed in the city in the summer of 2019 and debuted the following year. All of them say their time with the Fab Five pushed them to make positive changes. But they didn't necessarily follow all of their advice.
The premiere episode of the Philadelphia season focused on Noah Hepler, the pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Fishtown. Back then, parishioners said they were lucky to see 30 people on a Sunday. After the Netflix bump, their numbers grew.
"Now, if we're any less than 30, we're like, where was everybody?" Hepler said.
The impact wasn't immediate. As Hepler tells it, the church weathered several challenges soon after he shot his episode. A boiler cracked in the aging building. An electric panel caught on fire. Then COVID-19 made it impossible for the congregation to gather. But the hardships led to some positive changes. After a round of fundraising, the parish replaced its broken boiler with a heat pump system. That upgrade gave them air conditioning for the first time in the church's more than 130-year history.
The Fab Five chat with Noah Hepler, the pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement.
Hepler says they're now in the process of installing solar panels on the church's slant roof and the flat top of a back building. His home next door in the parsonage — which made the Fab Five recoil in horror — got patched up, too. There's no longer an exposed sewer pipe in the living room, Hepler says, or a hole in his bedroom wall.
The church hasn't just changed materially. As the congregation has scaled up, Hepler has strived to engage more with the community. A volunteer is posted by the door to greet curious passersby. The church also partners with the Fishtown Neighbors Association to assist with snow removal, and opens its doors for public meetings. Hepler has seen growth in his personal life, too. The pastor, who shared his later-in-life coming out story on "Queer Eye," has been in a relationship for the past four years.
"What 'Queer Eye' is able to do for people is, in that moment, they allow a person like myself to be able to see us through somebody else's eyes," he said. "And that's a real gift because I think we tend to be very overly critical of our own selves, and that's not how other people see us."
Wanamaker was early into his career when the Fab Five knocked on his door. Then working at the nonprofit Mighty Writers, he later landed his first "big boy job" in development thanks to the show. A recruiter for Thomas Jefferson University watched his episode and asked him to come in for an interview. He ended up working there for two years.
"('Queer Eye') helped me kick a lot of doors down," Wanamaker said. "I think at the time I was struggling with a glass ceiling in my work life, and the show kind of exposed me to people."
Tyreek Wanamaker poses with the 'Queer Eye' hosts in his made-over home.
Wanamaker is now the communications director for Black Alliance for Peace, a multi-city organization that campaigns against imperialism, particularly in Africa and the global South. He also serves as a consultant for the Block Gives Back, the Tacony-based group that hosts food drives and revitalizes city parks, among other community projects. "Queer Eye" viewers see him passing out backpacks with the organization in the opening of his episode.
He's moved out of the home that the "Queer Eye" crew made over to a new place in Brewerytown, but he says he's carried lessons that former design expert Bobby Berk taught him — especially about fiscal responsibility. The Fab Five have stayed with him in other, more tangible ways. Wanamaker credits hosts Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski with being "big parts" of his career.
"Everywhere that I've worked, if there was like a major campaign and it's like, oh, we need support, I hit them up and they're always eager to (help)," he said. "... They remind me of people that I know in my everyday life. So it's always a fun interaction with them."
Style guru Tan France spent much of his time with Jennifer Sweeney pushing her away from the sequined, printed and patterned clothes in her closet. And while the married mom of three says she's toned it down, she hasn't completely abandoned her old fashion sense. Sweeney came clean when she saw the Fab Five last year in a shimmering black-and-gold ensemble.
"I said to Tan that sparkles make me happy," she said. "....And he completely agreed. That's what I took away from these guys. It's really important to do what makes me happy."
Sweeney was struggling to take that advice before her time on "Queer Eye." Her three daughters complained that she never let them help her with the cooking, laundry or million other household tasks she took on — all while holding down a full-time job and caring for her husband, John, who had been diagnosed with ALS.
Nowadays, she says she has little issue ceding the kitchen to John or retreating to bed at 8 p.m. to watch "The Big Bang Theory." Slowing down was essential in her tackling her own eventual health issues. Sweeney beat breast cancer four years ago and says the principles she learned from the Fab Five got her through it "more than anything."
'Queer Eye' alum Jennifer Sweeney shows off her new look with the Fab Five.
Sweeney's oldest daughter Dana got married last year, and her middle child Rachel got engaged. It's just her, John and their youngest daughter Ashley, who's now teaching first grade at a Catholic school, living at the house these days. While the plants Berk picked out for their new patio didn't survive, the family still spends a lot of time out there. Sweeney has also continued cooking the Polish staples she made with Porowski, leaning on Czerw's in Port Richmond for supplies.
"Those people are real," she said of the Fab Five. "And they do stick by you even after the fact, once it's done and over with. It was a great experience, and I just feel bad that other people aren't going to get to experience it."
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