If you haven’t watched the Netflix revamp of Queer Eye, it’s time to schedule a serious chunk of binge-watching time. This show is almost exactly like the original series, but with a whole new cast of characters. Whether it’s Tan’s amazing sense of style, Jonathan’s incredible sense of humor, Karamo’s sensitivity, Antoni’s calm demeanor, or Bobby’s craftiness — each member of the Fab Five brings something major to the table. However, their greatest skill is that they can make any person into the best version of themselves. Every episode is guaranteed to leave you teary-eyed, and probably with a more positive outlook on life. So, here are 17 of Queer Eye’s most heartwarming moments. Seriously, you’ll cry every episode. It’s just a fact.
17. When Tom opened up about his ex-wife: S01E01
In our totally unbiased opinion, the very first episode of Queer Eye was one of its strongest. Not only did we get to meet the long-anticipated new team, we got to meet Tom. Tom is an example of the perfect Cinderella story, and we guarantee that there won’t be a single dry eye after viewing this episode. Tom is a humble Southern guy with an adorable personality. During his makeover, he mentions that his main reason for trying to improve his life was his ex-wife, Abby. He explains to the Fab Five that Abby is the love of his life and he’s determined to win her back with his newfound confidence. Hearts: warmed. Abby: swooning. Things are looking up for this former couple by the episode’s close.
16. When Jonathan gives Tom a lesson about confidence: S01E01
As the episode goes on, it becomes pretty clear that Tom has some serious self-confidence issues. He jokingly calls himself a redneck and states “you can’t fix ugly” on more than one occasion. Because we can’t reach through the TV and give him a hug, Jonathan decides to step in. In a classic Queer Eye pep talk, Jonathan tells him that the only ugly thing about Tom is his negative self-image. Tom learns that being confident is the sexiest thing, truly takes the advice to heart and works. it.
15. When we see Tom’s final look: S01E01
Although we all had a pretty good feeling that things were gonna work out for ol’ Tom, the final reveal was still a happy surprise. Tom looks amazing, serving us some serious Ulysses S. Grant looks (as pointed out by Jonathan) and smiling wide. When he sees his new apartment, sans terrifying recliner, he begins shedding tears. The genuine, overwhelming happiness he experiences is almost too good to be true. Talk about great television. Watching Tom’s transformation from Mountain Dews and jorts to avocado salads and flat caps was an emotional rollercoaster. Tom, if you’re reading this, we hope you and Abby are out there drinking fancy cocktails in your new leather recliners.
14. When Neal has his first house party: S01E02
We’re gonna be honest, Neal’s episode of Quer Eye was underwhelming overall. Mostly because Neal didn’t seem like he really wanted to have his life redone, and he didn’t have some sort of huge ~revelation~ that we so crave from this show. But hey, not everyone can give us Tom material. However, the most heartwarming moment of this episode is when Neal truly breaks out of his shell and kills it at his first house party. It’s clear this guy has business skills, so getting to see him show them off to his family, friends, and coworkers was super inspiring. His look was totally different from beginning to end. Plus, the spread of food that Antoni helped him put together looks straight-up delicious.
13. When Karamo and Cory talk about serious political issues: S01E03
This episode started on a pretty serious note, and kind of left us watching between our fingers for the rest of it. On top of trying to give Cory’s life the makeover it so desperately needed, there were some intense political undertones on this episode of Queer Eye. Mostly because Cory is a pretty avid Trump supporter and five gay guys – two of which are POC? Most likely not. At one point, however, Cory and Karamo bond over their love for music, and the issue of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. While it couldn’t get super intense (because y’know, it’s a makeover show), the two found some common ground, related to each other, and even got a little misty-eyed in the process. Look, we’re just suckers for big macho dudes feeling all the emotions (and for people using their platforms to talk about super real issues like BLM).
12. When Bobby made a quilt for Cory: S01E03
After lots of goofing around and mocking Cory’s sense of fashion (or lack thereof), the Queer Eye crew finds out some major stuff about Cory’s life. His father recently passed away, and Cory keeps all of his clothes in his closet as a way to remain close to him. If that wasn’t enough to make you cry, the gang talks him through how to remember his dad without clinging to the past. In the end, Bobby makes a beautiful quilt for the family out of Cory’s dad’s shirts. While Bobby usually only pops in for the last four minutes of an episode, he truly outdid himself this time. Yeah, we were shedding some serious tears by this point.
11. When we find out about AJ’s dad passing away: S01E04
AJ was hands-down one of the highlights of the first season of the Queer Eye reboot. As far as his appearance goes, he was one of the most promising from the start. He dresses well and takes care of his body, but his apartment is a disaster, and *plot twist* – he’s hiding a big secret from his family. The Fab Five quickly learn that AJ is gay and in a relationship, and never had a chance to come out to his family. In particular, he regrets not telling his father who recently passed away. AJ is shy, goofy and loveable, and learning this about him made us want to shrink him and keep him safe in our pockets forever.
10. When AJ and Karamo talk about their experiences being gay: S01E04
The reason AJ’s story made for such a great episode of Queer Eye is because of how easy it is for him to relate to the guys. Plus, the Fab Five fell in love with him as quickly as we did. They each have their chance to pull the man of the week aside and talk about the difficulties of coming out and accepting yourself. However, Karamo and AJ seem to truly bond over the particular challenges of being gay in the black community. Because Karamo’s job is still mostly unclear, TBH, it’s nice to see him have such an impactful conversation with someone. And again, we love to see how they’re using this platform.
9. When AJ comes out to his stepmother: S01E04
In addition to never coming out to his late father, AJ is still figuring out how to come out to his stepmom with whom he’s incredibly close. In fact, that’s the Fab Five’s goal of the week – to make him feel comfortable being open about his authetic self in front of her. Although you could probably imagine how beautiful this scene would be, it exceeded our expectations. AJ gave his step-mom a letter that he had originally written for his father, in which he says he regrets never telling him that he’s gay. His stepmom reacts by giving AJ a tearful, happy embrace. Seeing AJ almost immediately grow into himself was like watching a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon. Then when his stepmom meets Andre, AJ’s boyfriend, we were all smiles.
8. When the two Bobbys talk about religion: S01E05
If we’re being real, Bobby’s episode was a little bit of a snoozefest as well. There wasn’t a whole lot for the Queer Eye guys to do except tidy his house and get him some shirts that fit. We will say his haircut was a major transformation, though, and it was pretty fun to see. However, it was really interesting to see how a group of five very outspoken gay men would interact with an extremely Christian family. Bobby, the home decorator, and Bobby, the “subject,” are hanging out, redoing the yard, and have a bonding moment where they talk about religion. The Christian Bobby says he’s changed his viewpoints to be more accepting of people in the LGBTQ+ community, and the home decorator talks about his experience with the Church growing up. Basically, it was another classic Queer Eye moment where two people from very different walks of life sincerely appreciate and enjoy each other’s points of view.
7. When Bobby and Vera finally have their dream wedding: S01E05
The one main plot point of Bobby’s episode was the fact that he and his wife never got to have their dream wedding. Essentially, Bobby blames it on the fact that he didn’t listen to her needs, and didn’t give her the wedding that she wanted. The whole day was kind of just thrown together and no pictures were taken because the photographer was a flake. She brought up the failure of wedding fairly frequently (because, hey, it’s your most special day), and Bobby feels just awful about it. At the end of the episode, the Fab Five and Bobby give Vera the beautiful ceremony she always dreamed of. Be sure to bring some tissues for the end of this episode.
6. When Remy’s mom talked about her husband passing away: S01E06
Remy had hands-down one of the most beautiful stories, and definitely one of the strangest living situations of the whole season. He and his roommate Ponder (hello, amazing name?) have been living in the house Remy’s mom grew up in – and it’s basically frozen in time. We’re talking wallpaper, dated furniture, and broken-down appliances. Basically, Remy was having a hard time getting unstuck from his living situation. When Antoni went to talk to Remy’s mom, we found out the story of how Remy’s dad recently passed away and what an effect that had on the whole family. On top of that, we learned that Remy attempted CPR on his father before he died. It was chilling, heartbreaking, but ended on a positive note. Esther (Remy’s mom) said she wanted her son to move on and take care of himself, and leave the difficult times in the past.
5. When Remy’s mom shared her recipes: S01E06
In case it wasn’t already clear that Esther is the star of this episode of Queer Eye, she outdid herself again. While Antoni is supposed to be the ~cooking expert~ of the show, she gave him a serious run for his money. She essentially sat him down and gave him the meal of a lifetime. Antoni took all of her recipes and put his own spin on them, so Remy would be able to cook the food he grew up with. But OMG, the pie she made looked absolutely incredible. If there’s any way to access Esther’s recipes for ourselves, please let us know.
4. When we finally saw Remy wearing his father’s hat: S01E06
When going through Remy’s closet, the Fab Five found some amazing vintage finds. First of all, Remy’s grandmother was undeniably the queen of hats. The gang had a great time rifling through her old things but found one article of clothing really stood out: Remy’s father’s amazing gray cap. While it seemed unfitting on Remy when the guys arrived, Tan gave Remy a look that totally lent itself to that hat. Seeing his final ~reveal~ while wearing the amazing, vintage cap was a beautiful nod to Remy’s pops. This episode was super touching and really came full-circle.
3. When Joe gave his final stand-up routine: S01E07
Watching Joe’s episode of Queer Eye from the beginning, it was clear that his biggest obstacle was his own self-esteem. Living with his parents and having a hard time getting his stand-up career on track, Joe was majorly self-deprecating and not quite in the hilarious way he wanted to be. However, the Fab Five found an amazing way to spin this. They created a new identity for him called Below-Average Joe. Basically, the Joe with a newfound confidence and outgoing personality, but the same self-deprecating sense of humor. After performing a just-okay stand-up earlier in the episode, we got to see him kill it after his big reveal. The crowd was loving it, and so were we. Then we got to see him totally shock the Fab Five (and viewers) with some pretty on-point flirting with someone he’d been hanging out with. He really pulled one over on us – and the guys!
2. When all the firemen learned how to ballroom dance: S01E08
This episode of Queer Eye was so excellent because they took on not one man in need of help, but an entire fire station’s worth. Basically, the focus was on Jeremy, a firefighter who wanted to use the show to help himself, and the entire firehouse. Obviously, the Fab Five had no problem taking on a crew of painfully-straight firemen and broke them out of their comfort zones almost immediately. The best scene? Watching them teach a crew of clumsy, goofy, men how to ballroom dance. The firefighters were amazingly silly and were clearly having the time of their lives.
1. When Jeremy was a hero in so many ways: S01E08
Jeremy truly was a gem of a person. While he could have taken the Fab Five to redo his own house, he wanted to give back to the community that had become his second home. He asked the guys to make the fire station as comfortable as possible for himself and his buddies, who dedicate almost all of their time and energy to saving the lives of others. Plus, Jeremy showed time and time again that politics aside, he was all about love and acceptance, which is always heartwarming to see from a guy who comes off as a typical bro. The whole crew was touched at Bobby’s reveal of the new amenities at the fire station, but Jeremy’s words at the end were what really sent us over the edge.