The upcoming season of Queer Eye takes place in The Big Easy, but filming has been anything but.
The Fab Five—Bobby Berk, Karamo, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness—traveled to New Orleans for the seventh season of the Netflix show, where a condensed shooting schedule in the sweltering southern heat has made for an intense experience.
"This is the only three-and-a-half months that all five of us could make it happen in one place at the same time," Bobby exclusively told E! News after The Fab Five earned their third consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program July 12. "So don't be mad at Netflix that we're sweating so hard."
We don't think there will be many complaints.
Because the cast is so busy with their own individual projects now, each episode, which usually films over five days said Bobby, is now taking place "over three to four days."
"We've been condensed to doing about an episode-and-a-half a week right now," he revealed. "It's been a lot of fun. Very busy, especially in my department doing two homes in less than two weeks now."
In addition to the schedule, Bobby said the show's new setting has breathed unique life into the proceedings.
"New Orleans has a culture all its own," he said. "It's unlike any other city in the U.S.. It's Cajun and Creole culture that you just don't find anywhere else. It's almost like being in a different country and I mean that in the best way. It's a very unique town, from the architecture to the food to the accents that you don't hear anywhere else in the States."
When it comes time for next season, Bobby said he and the cast have very specific ideas about where they want to go.
"Our list definitely consists of any place that does not get above 60 degrees," he joked. "We would love to go to the UK. We would love to go international."
In addition, Bobby had some ideas for new territories to cover state-side.
"We would love to hit the Pacific Northwest. We haven't really filmed at all in the West," he said. "We've been in the South and the East for seven, if you count Japan, eight seasons now. So yeah, we'd love to go out West."
Queer Eye has won the Emmy for Outstanding Structured Reality Program four years in a row, but a win for Host for a Reality or Competition Program has remained elusive for one major reason: they're standing in the shadow of RuPaul, who has won six years in a row.
Bobby is hoping the tides will finally turn their way.
"RuPaul is an amazing host, but he's got like 40 of them now," he joked. "We're really, really hoping the third time's the charm this year."
The 2022 Emmy Awards will be broadcast live Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on NBC and will stream live on Peacock.
(E!, NBC and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)