The emotional second episode in the new season of the hit makeover Netflix series Queer Eye will have taken on extra poignancy for Kiss fans. The subject of the episode, whose “Fab Five” experts come into someone’s life for a week with the task of improving their life, is New Orleans resident and Kiss nut Tim Keel.
Tim is revealed to be the sole caregiver for his paralysed and bedridden older brother Doody, injured in a car accident 30 years previously, and he's been down on his luck of late, having recently lost his job and got divorced. Tim's daughter, Melody, nominated him for the show to try and turn his fortunes around. That begins with the Queer Eye team going through his massive Kiss collection with him – the show’s fashion expert Tan France describes Tim's home as a museum when he sees how much Kiss memorabilia Keel owns, and the team eventually help Keel create his own Kiss pop-up exhibition.
It makes for a heart-warming watch as Tim and the team get to work on his transformation, Keel bonding with Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk as the pair make a Kiss-themed terrarium for Keel’s snakes and discuss how Lady Gaga took inspiration from Gene Simmons & co. The episode ends on a sad note, though, as it’s revealed via a title card that Doody, the figure who sparked Tim’s love of Kiss as a kid, had passed away unexpectedly six months after filming had concluded. Writing on Instagram after the episode aired, Tim said:
“I want to send a sincere thank you to @queereye - the Fab 5 and that incredible crew that worked with me over that week. I feel uncomfortable with attention on me, but you guys made me feel relaxed and loved. I will never forget this experience and I am just at a loss for words seeing it now. Y’all asked me what life has been like since the Fab 5 came to town and losing my brother was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through and I had to learn to live life without him. I didn’t realize how much I would miss him. I had no idea what a big part of my life he was. I know other people around me could see it, but I couldn’t. So I’ve been missing him. A lot. I also celebrated 2 years sober. My life changed a lot when I got sober, and having the Fab 5 come into my life after I made that decision gave me a chance to start fresh. I was living in a lot of hard memories and had hit my all time low, and the new house gave me a fresh new look on life and turned things in a new direction for me. Honestly, life has been really hard, but I feel like I have the tools to make it through and am lucky to have the love of my friends and family (and the Fab 5) around me. Thank you again to everyone involved in this production, to my family, and to everyone watching and sharing supportive words. I really appreciate it. ROCK ON!”
The episode is available on Netflix now. Watch a clip below:
