The Queer Eye reboot spent their fifth season in Philadelphia, and while they’ve been busy doing makeovers from all over town — from Fishtown to West Philly to Germantown and even far-flung-ish Wyomissing — they would be remiss if they didn’t at least try to take on Gritty. It’s been almost two years since the googly-eyed mascot for the Flyers went, in the span of a day or two, from nightmare fuel to beloved figure. How can even the Queer Eye guys improve on perfection?
Spoiler: They didn’t quite, despite the old college try. In the special, released by Netflix as a YouTube extra, Jonathan Van Ness took a look at his orange mane and threw up his hands, correctly surmising that Gritty is “synonymous with perfect eyebrows.” Tan France, challenged with dressing a 7-foot behemoth who only has one outfit, tried out different colors, even a Santa Claus outfit, but the original remained best. (He also admitted Gritty has a “great a**.”) And instead of getting him to change his cheesesteak-heavy diet, food and wine guy Antoni Porowski wound up gorging on the deeply unhealthy but sinfully delicious foodstuff himself.
The video ends with lifestyle guru Karamo Brown arranging a meeting of the minds with the city’s other whatzit mascot, the Phillie Fanatic, which ends with the latter reminding Gritty that he quickly became beloved by the fans. So, they accomplished something.
You can watch the full video above.