Carson Kressley Biography

An enthusiastic presence on television, fashion stylist Carson Kressley shot to fame as one of the original "Fab Five" on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" (Bravo, 2003-07), which in turn paved the way for appearances as a judge, consultant and/or contestant on numerous reality series, including the Emmy-winning "RuPaul's Drag Race" (Logo, 2009- ). Born Carson Lee Kressley in Allentown, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1969, he was raised in Orefield, Pennsylvania, where his family raised ponies. Though equestrian events were his initial interest, he had an innate understanding of fashion, and after earning graduating magna cum laude from Gettysburg College in 1991, Kressley headed for New York City to pursue a career as a stylist. From 1994 to 2002, he worked for Ralph Lauren in its men's sportswear division before moving into corporate advertising, which entailed designing the company's retail campaigns and styling for domestic and international men's fashion shows. His ascendancy to pop culture stardom began in 2003 when he was cast as the "fashion savant" for "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," Bravo's reality/makeover series which provided heterosexual men with fashion and lifestyle advice from a quintet of gay experts. The show's unique mix of advice and camp humor made it a must-see for fashion aspirants and general audiences alike, and earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004; more importantly, it minted the "Fab Five," as the consultants were dubbed, as celebrities, though only Kressley and food consultant Ted Allen, who later hosted "Chopped" (Food Network, 2009- ), were able to parlay that into lasting media careers. Kressley was already a staple of talk shows and entertainment news as a fashion critic, as well as a regular judge of pageant competitions when "Queer Eye" ran its course, but in 2008, he earned his own series as host and producer of "How to Look Good Naked" (Lifetime, 2008), which provided the network with its biggest premiere viewership in its history. From there, he moved on to the reality series "Carson Nation" (OWN, 2011) and regular rotation as a contestant on countless reality competition shows, including the 13th season of "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2011- ), the short-lived "New Celebrity Apprentice" (NBC, 2017) and in Australia, the third season of "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!" (Network Ten, 2015- ). In 2015, he joined Ross Matthews as one of the regular judges on "RuPaul's Drag Race," which won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2018. That same year, he returned to Bravo with fellow "Queer Eye" alum Thom Filicia for a new reality series, "Get a Room with Carson & Thom" (2018).