Bobby Berk is a writer, television personality, and interior designer from the United States. He was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards. He gained recognition through his role as the interior design expert on the first eight seasons of the Netflix series Queer Eye.
Early Life & Education
Bobby Berk, also known as Bobby James Berk, was born on August 25, 1981 in Houston, Texas. Due to his mother’s young age, he was later adopted by his aunt and uncle, Connie and Jerry Berk.
Bobby grew up in Mount Vernon, Missouri, and has shared that he faced discrimination for his sexual orientation in the conservative Bible Belt. At the age of 15, he left Mount Vernon for Springfield, Missouri.
He worked at Applebee’s in Branson and either stayed with friends or slept in his car. He would then make the daily commute to Mount Vernon to complete his sophomore year of high school.
After leaving his parents’ custody, Bobby became emancipated to attend Kickapoo High School in Springfield. However, Berk ended up leaving school due to financial difficulties with rent.
He then took on a telemarketing job at MCI Communications, which eventually led him to reconnect with his birth father. When Bobby reached the age of 18, he relocated to Denver, Colorado, and got a job at the Bombay Company.
Bobby Berk’s Career
In 2003, Bobby Berk moved to New York City. He secured jobs at Restoration Hardware and Bed Bath & Beyond before joining Portico, a luxury home goods company. Despite lacking a high school diploma or formal education, he rose through the ranks to become the creative director.
Following the closure of Portico, Berk established his online shop, Bobby Berk Home, in 2006 and then debuted his first physical store in SoHo, Manhattan the following year. This was soon followed by the opening of stores in Midtown Miami, Florida in 2010 and Midtown Atlanta, Georgia.
Subsequently, he established Bobby Berk Interiors + Design, a company that offers interior design services and is headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles.
He also appeared on popular television channels including HGTV, NBC, CBS, and Bravo. Additionally, Berk has developed his own line of wallpaper, furniture, and art through his various ventures.
Berk joined the cast of Queer Eye in 2018 as an interior design specialist. While on the show, he was featured in Taylor Swift‘s “You Need to Calm Down” music video along with his co-stars.
In 2023, Berk declared that he would be leaving the show after its eighth season, which premiered in January 2024. He made his choice clearer during the season’s release.
He said he had already planned his future projects and decided not to keep his contract with Netflix, even though they renewed Queer Eye a year after their first agreements ended in 2022.
Berk took part in the sixth season of The Masked Singer as a surprise entry, playing the role of “Caterpillar”. Unfortunately, he and Willie Robertson, who was “Mallard”, were both voted off in the semi-finals of Group B.
In recognition of his artistic talent, Bobby was granted an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Otis College of Art and Design in 2022.
Husband
Bobby Berk and his spouse Dewey Do, who works as a maxillofacial surgeon, first connected online in 2004 and tied the knot in 2012 when same-sex marriage became legally recognized. After residing in New York City for more than ten years, the pair relocated to Los Angeles, California in July 2018.
Later, in 2023, they started splitting their time between Portugal and the United States, accompanied by their beloved dog Bimini, whom they welcomed into their family in 2021.
Net Worth
American reality TV star and interior designer, Bobby Berk, has accumulated a net worth of $10 million. He rose to fame as the design guru on the popular Netflix show “Queer Eye,” which premiered in 2018.
Before this, Bobby worked as the creative director at Portico before launching his online store, Bobby Berk Home, in 2006. He expanded his business by opening additional stores in Manhattan, Atlanta, and Miami, and also established Bobby Berk Interiors + Design in Los Angeles.
