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Bobby Berk is opening up about why he parted ways with Netflix's hit Queer Eye reboot and what's really going on with the purported feud between him and castmate Tan France.

In a new Vanity Fair interview, the beloved interior design expert explained that he, France, and fellow Fab Five members Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Ness initially signed a seven-cycle contract for the makeover show, which was fulfilled in September 2022 when they finished filming two seasons in New Orleans. Although Berk "thought we were done" and "started planning other things," he said Netflix opted to renew the series last fall due to the content shortage caused by the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes.

The Fab Five were offered a new contract, Berk said, and he decided not to sign, adding that his costars initially considered going the same route. "We'd just assumed that the show wouldn't come back if we all didn't come back," Berk told VF. "I was like, I'm not going to be having FOMO 'cause the show is not going to happen. I had become at peace with it." But for reasons Berk didn't elaborate on, his costars ultimately did move forward with new contracts.

"And with only one of us not coming back, Netflix felt [it] could recast one person," Berk said, conceding that the reversal initially upset him.

"There were definitely emotions," he said. "But each one of us had our reasons why we did what we did. I can't be mad — for a second I was."

Netflix didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment Thursday.

Berk said he didn't reconsider his decision not to sign, since he'd already been preparing for what would come next. "All the plans that I had made when I thought we weren't coming back, I just wasn't willing to change those," he said. "I would have had to pump the brakes on multiple other projects that are already in process. We had mentally just prepared ourselves to move on — that's why I left."

Berk also confirmed that he and France, the show's fashion expert, had a bit of a quarrel, though he said he was commenting only to "extinguish some of the speculation." Eagle-eyed fans noticed last year that Berk unfollowed France on Instagram and hadn't been tagging his personal account in posts. "Tan and I had a moment," Berk said. "There was a situation, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show. It was something personal that had been brewing — and nothing romantic, just to clarify that."

He added, "Should I have unfollowed Tan? No. Maybe I should have just muted him. But that day, I was angry, and that's the end of it. We became like siblings — and siblings are always going to fight." Berk said he'd "always have a very special place in my heart" for France. "I can foresee in six months or a year, Tan and I at each other's house being good. The Emmys was already the first bandage on that wound."

Berk, part of the rebooted Fab Five since Queer Eye returned in 2018, announced his departure ahead of season 9 last fall. "It's not been an easy decision to be at peace with, but a necessary one," he said at the time, promising fans that they'd be "seeing more of me very soon." Netflix said in a statement, "We appreciate the heart and dedication Bobby Berk brought to Queer Eye over eight amazing seasons. He will always be a member of the Fab Five family and we wish him the very best."

Queer Eye won yet another Primetime Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Structured Reality Program at the most recent ceremony, bringing the show's total Emmy wins to 11.

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