kids encyclopedia robot

Bobby Berk facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Bobby Berk
Bobby Berk.jpg
Berk in 2020
Born (1981-08-25) August 25, 1981 (age 42)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupation
  • Interior designer
  • product designer
  • television personality
  • author
Television Queer Eye

Bobby Berk is an Emmy nominated television host, author and interior designer. He stars in the Netflix series Queer Eye as the interior design expert.

Early life

Berk was born in Houston, Texas to a young mother and then adopted by his maternal aunt and her husband, Connie and Jerry Berk. He grew up in Mount Vernon, Missouri in the middle of Amish farm country. Berk cites that being gay in the Bible Belt and attending an Assemblies of God church throughout his childhood was difficult, and that he faced both internal and external homophobia growing up.

Berk left home at the age of fifteen. He landed in Springfield, Missouri and got a job at Applebee's, in Branson, sleeping in his car or staying with friends. He drove home for school as a sophomore and attended Kickapoo High School for junior year. He then worked as a telemarketer for MCI Communications. It was through this job that he first met his biological father. Just before he turned eighteen, he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he got a gig at the Bombay Company.

Career

Berk relocated to New York City in 2003. He found employment at Restoration Hardware and Bed, Bath and Beyond before moving on to Portico, a high-end home furnishing company. With no high school diploma or formal training he worked his way up to creative director.

Bobby Berk Home - Design District (6140685095)
Bobby Berk Home (2011)

After Portico folded in 2006, Berk launched his online store, Bobby Berk Home, in 2006, opening his first store in SoHo, Manhattan a year later. Midtown Miami, Florida followed in 2010 as well as Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. He later launched Bobby Berk Interiors + Design, specializing in interior design services, whose headquarters is in Downtown Los Angeles. He has appeared on television networks such as HGTV, NBC, CBS, and Bravo.

He has been the design expert on the Netflix series Queer Eye since 2018. Berk appeared in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video.

Berk has his own line of wallpaper, furniture, and art, and runs an interior design business.

In 2021, Berk competed in season six of The Masked Singer as the wild card contestant "Caterpillar". He was eliminated alongside Willie Robertson as "Mallard" in Group B semi-final's episode.

In 2022, Bobby received an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design

In 2023, Berk announced he was departing Queer Eye after its eighth season.

Personal life

In July 2018, Berk and his husband, Dewey Do, a maxillofacial surgeon, moved to Los Angeles, California after living in New York City for 15 years.

Berk endorsed Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

On June 23, 2020, Berk and Queer Eye co-star Jonathan Van Ness praised recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions which ruled that LGBT employment discrimination was a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, both of them still urged the United States Congress to pass the proposed Equality Act, which Berk claimed would amend the Civil Rights Act so it "would really extend healthcare and housing rights."

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2018–present Queer Eye Himself Main (Seasons 1–8), 58 episodes
2018 Nailed It! Himself Episode: "3, 2, 1...Ya Not Done!!"
2019 Lip Sync Battle Himself Season 5, Episode 1
2019 Big Mouth Himself Season 3
2019 Alexa & Katie Annoyed Mini Golf Customer Part 3, Episode 8
2020 Miss Americana Himself
2021 Masked Singer Caterpillar Season 6
2021 Blown Away Himself Guest judge, Host
2023 Hell's Kitchen Himself Chef's Table guest diner for the Red Team; Episode: "Citizens of Hell's Kitchen"

Music videos

Year Song Artist
2018 "This Is Me (The Reimagined Remix)" Keala Settle, Kesha, & Missy Elliott
2019 "You Need To Calm Down" Taylor Swift

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Bobby Berk para niños

kids search engine
Bobby Berk Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.