Younger and Restless
Tom Fitzgerald & Lorenzo Marquez
Kyan Douglas
| Thrust into the national spotlight on Bravo’s mega-hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Kyan Douglas has kept a low profile since the show took its final bow. But he’s been busy exploring new ways of bettering people’s lives, both through the study of ancient spirituality and his new role as host of TLC’s makeover show, Ten Years Younger.We spoke with Kyan while he was in Park City, Utah. |
What are you doing in Utah?
Yelling at Mormons?
I’m doing a training process.
I’m actually working and studying with some medicine people and learning a
little bit about their tradition and their ways. It’s really cool. I’ve always
enjoyed a robust spiritual life, so it’s a nice little addition. It’s always
cool to learn how different cultures and people work it out, so it’s sort of
fun for me to do this.
Well now
you’ve gotten us kind of curious!
I’m basically studying a
Peruvian medicine lineage with Peruvian shamans, learning about how they heal
the body. They work with something that they call a “luminous body,” which we
new-agers in the West might call the aura or chakra system. Believe it or not,
isolated way up in the Andes, they have their own concept of these phenomena. |
How did
you get into this “new age” stuff, as you called it?
I’ve always enjoyed
comparative spiritual studies. I went to a Jesuit university and had a pretty
solid religious education. In my adult life, I have really grown to appreciate
the rich spiritual heritage of indigenous cultures, particularly those of the
Americas. I think given the world’s many crises, we in the West would do well
to get back to a fundamental |
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harmony with the planet and each other. Indigenous cultures saw themselves as stewards of the land, a role we have forgotten. I’m currently studying the healing practices and traditions of the Quero [Peruvian mountain shaman], descendants of the Inca.
How could we apply that to
day-to-day life?
A quick story as to why one
might seek out a shaman: On my way to Park City a couple weeks ago, I dropped
in on a friend in Vegas. Her boyfriend is a highly regarded painter but hasn’t
picked up a brush in about four years. She asked me to work with him. So, I did
a session with him and left the next morning. Three days later she called me to
tell me that he had started a new painting. He told her that after our work
together his mind was flooded with images and he just started painting. It was
pretty cool.
Since Queer Eye wrapped, you’ve
kept a relatively low profile in comparison to your castmates.
I didn’t realize how private
a person I was until the Queer Eye
thing happened. I think while some of my castmates were immediately ready for
more action, I just needed some time to myself. I did a good bit of traveling.
One of my adventures took me to Costa Rica for some time on a sustainable
farming community and then on to Egypt. I also bought some property in Mexico and spend part of my time there. I think my life will always be a balance of
work and adventure. I am fundamentally a curious person, so I will always have
to be traveling somewhere or studying something.
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And you’re the new host of
TLC’s Ten
Years Younger.
I'm excited about it. The format is changing a little
bit. It’s going from an hourlong nighttime show to a half-hour daytime format.
Rather than working with three people within an episode, we’ll focus on one.
How does it feel doing a makeover show again?
Interesting. I’ve had a little bit of time off,
which has been fun. For me, it’s connected to what we were just talking about.
The fun of a makeover has always
been how it can really change somebody’s life.
Let’s be honest: Part of the appeal is how bad the
person looks in the “before” pictures.
Yes, there’s nothing more fascinating than a train
wreck, right?
But the other appealing part
is the emotional component. The people who come on these shows are brave for
doing so, but at the same time very fragile.
I don’t think there’s anybody that watches a
makeover show, who can’t relate in some way to not feeling like they are being
their best or looking their best or feeling as confident as they could. We’ve
all been there at some point or other. Then, it’s the weirdest thing: You
change this very superficial thing about a person, and this light pops on in
their eyes, and they’re like a completely different person.
So are you rolling up your sleeves and making these
people over yourself?
I am the host of the show, which is a different
thing for me, having a hands-off, tell-us-your-story [role] in terms of the
makeover. But you know what? It’s actually really fun for me because my role —
at least in part — is to connect with the person having the experience and find
out a little bit about them: what makes them tick, how they got to where they
are, what’s worked for them and what hasn’t worked. ... That part is really fun
for me ... hearing their story and holding their hand through it. Because it’s
pretty nerve-racking [for them] to
be stuck in this glass box.
Let’s talk about the glass box. For anyone who
hasn’t seen the show, a makeover client is put into a soundproof glass box in a
public setting and 100 passersby are asked to guess their age. You couldn’t pay
us enough to do that!
The interesting thing about the glass box is that,
for me, it’s like a metaphor. When you or I walk outside, we are judged by
people. That’s just the nature of life, but ... people don’t look at you and
say, “Oh, you know, those crow’s feet around their eyes make them look a little
older,” or, “I bet if they had better teeth or whiter teeth they’d feel more
confident.” Instead, they look at somebody and think, “What a mess. I bet
they’re a terrible person."
Does the show still have the Glam Squad?
They still have the Glam
Squad. I was really happy when I met the guys and saw the work that they do.
It’s a really talented group of people.
Is it strictly female makeovers?
No, it’s mostly females, but there are a few guys
in there.
So you’ll be doing guys again!
Yeah. Well, I haven’t actually stopped doing guys,
but that’s for another interview.
Are there different considerations or pitfalls for
male vs. female makeovers?
Men are just as aware and
self-conscious about how they look, and when they aren’t looking their best or
if they’ve let themselves go, it takes a toll on their confidence. But guys,
you know, generally don’t wear makeup, and the possibilities of working with
our hair, for example, are limited. The same goes for clothes and accessorizing.
Women tend to build up a certain armor when it
comes to discussing their looks, because they’ve been forced into that
discussion since they were children. It’s funny to look at old Queer Eye episodes,
because the guys had no tools to deal with when they were told they looked
terrible.
Women being programmed at an early age in our
culture [to be critical of the way] they look really plays into, in our show, the
story element. ... We really made an effort to find people who have truly
moving stories; there are a lot of single mothers and women who have raised
kids on their own, dealt with divorce, and put their kids through school, and
that’s the reason why they let themselves go. It’s a real pleasure to be able
to help somebody who is actually a great person. To be able to step in and help
out in this area where they just haven’t been able to keep it together is
really special.
So what’s next for you, Kyan?
I am about to head down to the Yucatan to study
some of the power sites of the Mayans, and will be in Peru to do the same
[with] the Inca this summer.
And before we say goodbye, we
have to ask: Are you seeing anyone?
Well, boys, I’m single. I think finding the right
one is hard for everyone. Timing seems to be the biggest issue [for me]. That
said, I have had some really lovely relationships, even if they didn’t last
forever. |
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