Carson Kressley, OG ‘Queer Eye’ stylist, will reunite the original Fab Five in Bethlehelm live show

Carson Kressley is back in Philadelphia, and this time the Emmy-winning TV personality is helping transform the Ben Franklin Parkway into a roadway of holiday cheer this Thanksgiving. And for Christmas, he’s reuniting the original Queer Eye cast with a Lehigh Valley live show.

The Queer Eye “Fab Five″ original will join 6abc anchors in hosting the network’s annual Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade. “Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and it’s all about homecoming,” Kressley said. “Being from the Lehigh Valley originally, 6abc was the channel I always watched. I go to the Oscars and Emmys, and I’m like, ‘Oh, there goes Brad Pitt. Who cares?’ But if I get to run into Cecily Tynan, now I know I’ve made it. This is for our community, by our community, and it’s just a really fun, festive day.”

When Kressley, an Allentown native, drove down to the city with his family from their home 50 miles north, it was like a trek to an “exotic destination,” he said. If he wasn’t attending a horse show or watching a Broadway production at the Walnut Street Theatre, he was scouring the shopping racks at the former Wanamakers department store. It’s now a Macy’s, but he said, “there’s still some magic there.”

The stylist’s fashion expertise and made-for-TV looks landed him a spot on Bravo’s Queer Eye for Straight Guy in 2003. He joined the show’s original “Fab Five,” which starred food and wine expert Ted Allen, grooming pro Kyan Douglas, interior designer Thom Filicia, and pop culture specialist Jai Rodriguez.

The series was a surprise hit. The show, shortened to Queer Eye in the third season, went on to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004. After the show ended in 2007, Netflix picked up Queer Eye in 2018 with a new cast.

Kressley is getting the old gang together for a 20th anniversary live show on Dec. 16 inBethlehem.

Kressley told The Inquirer in 2012 that he was toying with a one-off reunion special. He felt it was time for the “Fab Five” to gift longtime Queer Eye viewers a televised celebration for the holidays.

“In the 20 years that we’ve been doing this, and we’ve all gone on to different shows or continue our careers, there’s a fan base that follows us,” he said. “So we thought the 20th anniversary is a perfect time to do something for the fans.”

“An Evening with the Fab Five — 20 Years Later” is Dec. 16 at Bethlehem’s Wind Creek Event Center. Tickets start at $49.50. For more information, visit windcreekeventcenter.com.