If you’ve watched Netflix’s Queer Eye, the reboot of the early aughts’ groundbreaking makeover series, you’ve probably fallen in love with Antoni Porowski. Whether it’s his soulful blue eyes, his penchant for literary- and band-themed T-shirts, or the way he gets really, really excited about an elevated grilled cheese sandwich, it’s hard not to crush hard on the Fab Five’s resident foodie.
Luckily, it looks like fans might even have more fuel for fodder: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has given the green-light to a rom-com based on Antoni’s dating history. Even better, it’s likely to bring bisexual and pansexual representation to the forefront. While many might assume the Queer Eye chef is only into guys — his current boyfriend is ad executive Kevin Harrington, a relationship he confirmed at the end of 2019 — Antoni has dated both men and women in the past.
If the rom-com ends up getting made, the production’s screenwriters will have plenty of source material to draw upon. We might not know the names of any of Antoni’s ex-girlfriends, but that doesn’t mean those relationships have meant any less to him.
The reality star, who identifies as “queer,” told British GQ in October 2019 that when it comes to his dating life, his sexual fluidity is an integral part of who he is as a person. “I feel like if I do refer to myself as gay… it dishonours women that I’ve been in love with,” he stated.
Antoni from 'Queer Eye' was in a seven-year relationship
One thing we do know? Antoni Porowski is not one to shy away from love — or from being honest and authentic about his past relationships. While Kevin Harrington might be Antoni’s current squeeze, he’s not the first beau he’s gone public with since winning the hearts (and stomachs) of Queer Eye viewers.
At the time of the show’s debut in February 2018, Antoni was in a relationship with Joey Krietemeyer, a senior art director for an NYC-based e-commerce luxury boutique. The pair was in a relationship for seven years, and Antoni divulged in an interview with Vulture that he and Krietemeyer were “basically married.”
Unfortunately, the coupling didn’t survive Queer Eye‘s resident chef’s sudden rise to fame: The pair broke up later that year, only months after the reboot dropped its first season on Netflix. Despite parting ways, the two remained cordial. “Antoni and Joey broke up months ago,” a source close to Antoni told Us Weekly in October 2018. “It was very amicable. They’re still friends. It was a clean split.”
Antoni met one of his exes by sliding into his DMs
Only two months after news of Antoni Porowski’s separation broke, the foodie took to social media to go public with his rebound bae Trace Lehnhoff, former star of the Bravo reality show Flipping Out. In fact, if it weren’t for Instagram, the two never would’ve hooked up in the first place. According to Antoni, they connected by sliding into each other’s DMs (via HuffPost).
During their relationship, the boyfriends hit the red carpet together, and even went as far as to go on one of the (arguably) coolest dates ever: a black-tie dinner at the John F. Kennedy Space Center for, as Lehnhoff described on Instagram, “dinner under a rocket ship with astronauts.”
A post shared by Trace Lehnhoff (@tfortrace) on May 10, 2019 at 7:13am PDT
In the end, the couple wasn’t meant to be: They parted ways after roughly a year. “The relationship ran its course,” a source close to the couple told People in August 2019, adding that things between the former flames “just didn’t work out” and Antoni was spending his then-found singledom “concentrating on work.”
At the time, Antoni called the breakup a “good opportunity to connect with friends” and said “being able to be free and have fun with friends is the ultimate luxury.” Even so, the Queer Eye gourmand didn’t remain single for long. As with Lehnhoff, Antoni took to Instagram once again to subtly announce his new relationship with Kevin Harrington, who first surfaced on the celeb’s social media feed in the fall of 2019.
Antoni isn't the only Fab Five member to break barriers
Though Joey Krietemeyer, Trace Lehnhoff, and Kevin Harrington are the only partners — both past and present — that have been romantically tied to Antoni Porowski by the media, there’s a Queer Eye co-star fans have rooted for him to hook up with: grooming guru Jonathan Van Ness.
Both Antoni and Jonathan are more than aware of their status among fans as OTP and have taken it in stride, going as far as to cheekily bait their followers with a series of Instagram posts that featured the two getting cozy and kissing. Alas, it turns out Antoni and JVN are only just very good friends (… for now).
Even if there’s no chance of them dating IRL, they both have something in common. Despite Queer Eye‘s original premise — that a group of five gay men set out to teach their straight counterparts about what modern masculinity can look like — neither Antoni or Jonathan cleanly fit into a specifically gay, cisgender identity. Antoni, who identifies as queer, is attracted to both men and women, while Jonathan came out as a nonbinary queer person, who uses he/him pronouns, in 2019.
While we hope Netflix’s Antoni-centric rom-com drops into our feeds in the near future, there’s one thing that’s for certain: Thanks to Queer Eye, audiences around the world are learning that love is love — no matter who it’s with.
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