Every parent makes mistakes.
And Queer Eye star Karamo's biggest parenting mistake applies to more than just child-rearing. On the Jan. 23 episode of E! News, the daytime talk show host admitted what he wishes he'd done differently when raising his two sons Jason, 26, and Christopher, 22.
"One of the things that I wish I would have done differently is not put my kids in a box," Karamo exclusively told E! News' Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and Justin Sylvester. "One of my sons was the good one and the one that I didn't have to worry about, and the other one was the one that I'm like, 'Oh, I gotta worry about, I gotta watch out for.'"
As he went on to explain, "When we put anybody in a box, you don't give them the chance to be their full, authentic self or you don't see their full, authentic self, and that's when we start missing things."
That advice is something the 42-year-old wishes he had learned sooner, especially when it came to helping his son Jason with his battle against addiction. On an October 2022 episode of Karamo's synonymous talk show, he sat down with Jason for an open discussion about his struggles—including Jason's terrifying 2020 overdose.
"I wish for my son that I would have just been like, 'Oh, you know what? Even though he's a good kid, he still has the capacity to make mistakes and I need to be looking out for them,'" Karamo shared, noting that Jason is "doing great now."
Just as he helps people on his talk show, Karamo will soon be back on Netflix with the rest of the Fab Five—a.k.a. Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France and Bobby Berk—on the upcoming season seven of Queer Eye.
Giving fans a tease of what's in store, Karamo told E! News, "We finished shooting in New Orleans and I'm super excited. Our theme song is 'we keep getting better,' and it literally got better. The heroes are better, and I think it'll be coming out this year."
Hear more from Karamo—including whether he'd be down for a The Real World: Philadelphia reunion—in the full interview above. Tune in to E! News tonight at 11 p.m. for more of today's biggest entertainment stories.
Karamo airs weekdays. Check your local listings for showtimes.