EW spent a day on the set of NBC’s Karamo for the talk show host’s first taping.
But not all conflicts have those.
“I’ve had an ex’s name tattooed on me before.
‘Queer Eye’ star Karamo Brown headlines his own daytime talk show, ‘Karamo.'.Heidi Gutman/NBCUniversal
It’s OK. you’re able to cover it up,” he tells Auggie.
The audience eats it up.
But this isn’tQueer Eye.
I’m over it!"
Whatever that takes, he’s in.
“Arguing and screaming is not my jam, and that’s not healthy communication.”
Now, Brown will vet each guest just before they are about to go onstage.
If he feels their intentions aren’t genuine, he’ll cut them from the show then and there.
That seems to be Brown’s intent with the show.
It’s not just about helping people, which he says is his essential mission.
It’s about thewayhe helps people: giving his guests those tools they need to deal with conflict.
“I don’t shy away from people in challenges.
I think that’s where the growth happens for all of us as human beings,” he remarks.
“What I do believe in is that there has to be resolution.
You have to walk away with tools and I’m trained to get people those tools.”
The discussions are going to be messier than what people have seen onQueer Eye.
Brownwantsto have those tough conversations.
The situation with Auggie and C.B.
fell apart due to an unwillingness he felt to participate in the process.
“Queer Eye, I can spend a whole week with someone.
I’m able to talk them through and be gentle with it.
But I’m in a moment right now where it’s like, ‘We got to call this BS.
This is BS and if you want to accept the BS quickly, we can start to grow.’
I think people are not used to that.”
Brown doesn’t wantKaramoto be like other shows in the conflict TV space, either.
For one, there will be no lie detectors onKaramo.
It’s not a helpful tool.
A segment he does implement is unlocking phones.
A willing guest will turn over their smart phones for the producers to search through.
“Even if you think you deleted something, we find it.”
The intent is not to be salacious.
As a gay Black man, Brown also wants to approach both of those communities differently.
“There will be no sensationalism of the gay community,” Brown vows ofKaramo.
“Our stories are real, and they’re going to be approached [as] real.”
Brown regularly refers to his own story when filming the show.
He and his father were estranged for more than 20 years after he came out as gay.
“We had no relationship,” Brown says.
“I was the one who found out,” Brown says.
“And it broke up our family in a way that it’s possible for you to’t imagine.”
It was an emotional moment for the newly minted talk-show host.
The significance of that family presence was not lost on Brown.
