Scout Production’s initial premise for the runaway TV hit “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” was simple enough: Five cultured, attractive gay men (each proficient in one area of lifestyle endeavor) come to the rescue of a hapless, style-deficient straight man in serious need of a life altering makeover. Who would have guessed that this brainchild of executive producers David Collins, Michael Williams and David Metzler would not only catch on, but would in fact become a national phenomenon?

Certainly not Kyan Douglas, a 33-year-old Miami native, graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans, and all-round regular guy. Along with pals Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, Thom Felicia and Carson Kressley, “grooming guru” Douglas has found national fame and even a recent nomination to Barbara Walters’ coveted list of the “10 Most Fascinating People of 2003”. The good-looking 33-year-old Douglas, a native of Miami, Fla., seems both amazed and grateful for his success as one of the most famous makeover teams to ever hit the airwaves.

Once employed as a colorist at the upscale Arrojo salon in Manhattan’s trendy SoHo district, Douglas has extensive background in both the hair and spa industries. He studied cosmetology at New York’s Aveda Institute and worked as a colorist for The Learning Channel’s “What Not To Wear,” “While You Were Out” and Child Magazine.

Gay & Lesbian Times writer David Guarino had the good fortune of catching up with the enigmatic Douglas last month, during the grooming guru’s visit to the Windy City to headline the “Chicago House World Tour Gala”, at The House of Blues.

Kyan Douglas: It’s so interesting. … I mean, it definitely feels good, and I think that that element of the whole “Queer Eye phenomenon” is something that was unexpected to all of us. And it feels good; it does feel good to sort of have participated a little bit in moving the gay cause forward. That said, it’s also a little bit scary and a little bit daunting because we’re just five guys who are human beings. … We’re not perfect, we’re just five guys. So it feels like a responsibility exists that I don’t think any of us were really after or asking for. Do you know what I mean? … In some ways whether it’s fair or not, a lot of people think we’re the ambassadors for the gay world and the reality is we’re not; there’s really no such thing. We’re just five human beings. Does that make any sense?

KD: Right. I worked for Aveda in New York. My whole sort-of-professional background was salon and spa related. I’ve also always been interested in the healing arts and I studied massage and a lot about aromatherapy. I used to even make my own basic skin care products with, like a food processor with vegetables and fruits and what-have-you …

KD: Yeah. All of my life I’ve been very interested in those sorts of things.

KD: It was just the best kind of luck ever. I was working as a colorist at a salon in New York called Arrojo Studio, and one of our clients there happened to be friends with the woman who was casting the show … and she thought of me and she’s like, “You’re gay, right? Well, A friend of mine’s casting for the show. Are you interested?” I said, “Sure.” So I wrote a little bio about myself and forwarded a photograph, basically to this woman who was the casting director and got an appointment and did three auditions … and that’s how I got on the show.

KD: I was involved in theater in school. Never on a professional level. Theater was my minor in college. I was also in some student video productions at Loyola University in New Orleans where I went to school. But I didn’t pursue the field professionally.

KD: It was, like, “Oh, my God this is crazy!”

KD: I think on one level, for my family … you know, it’s exciting for them. Of course they liked it. They’ve had to learn, as I am learning, what it’s like to be someone whom people recognize in the streets or in restaurants or a bookstore, wherever I am. They’ve sort-of been with me when we’ve had to stop and do photographs and autographs and we’re going out to dinner or when people stare or come over to the table and say hello or want a picture. They’re learning how to deal with it. You know, how to navigate this thing. I think, for the most part, that everyone’s handling it very well. They’re very supportive.

KD: That’s a good question, David, let me think about it. It’s hard to answer that question, you know. I would say that the problem with me is also true of them. We all tend to be perfectionists in our own way and take what we do very seriously … which, of course, is a good thing and important. But one of the drawbacks of being so committed to something and taking it that seriously is that you want everything to be just right! I know for myself sometimes when things aren’t just right I get frustrated because I want to make the best possible product that we can make. Maybe that. And they might also say that I spend too much time in the mirror.

KD: I think that absolutely, without the shadow of a doubt, gay people have a right to be married; have a right to have their relationships counted and validated. They already do count and they already are validated, that’s a fact. And we live in a country where there are laws and systems and I think that our relationships need to be integrated into those. … We shouldn’t wait for Straight America to validate our relationships before we behave as if they’re validated. In other words, if you’re in a relationship and you feel like you’re with your life partner, you should just behave and act like you’re married. I think that’s a very important thing we can do for ourselves … to sort of heal ourselves. Does that make any sense? … And that said, we should definitely be organizing ourselves politically to secure the rights and privileges we deserve — it should be a sort-of two-fold process.

KD: Yeah, David, I’d love to talk about that, because it’s been so misrepresented. I absolutely adore Bobby; I think he’s a good, close friend of mine. We met on a shoot for Vanity Fair. We met and we hit it off, we liked each other. A couple nights later we attended a party together, and you know how it is when you meet somebody and you kind of like him, you’re kind of flirting … maybe there was some sort of energy there. We went out to a party and we were hanging out and at one point we were holding hands, and there was definitely that sort-of affectionate thing going on without a shadow of a doubt. But Bobby lives in LA and works in Toronto and I live in New York, so there’s no way we could actually have a relationship because our lives are in completely different places right now. That said, I, since then, have hung out with Bobby many times … He spent some time with me and my family at Christmastime and I’ve been to Toronto to see him and we hung out other places and what we have discovered is that we have a great friendship. Bobby and I are friends, and there’s really no truth at all to the contention that we were dating. It’s sort of interesting that the media grabbed hold of that and created a story where there was none. And I believe we were in US magazine recently as one of the “breakups of the year” or something like that, and it was so funny because we were never even together to be broken up.

KD: There’s so much to be grateful for. I have met some of the most amazing people, people that I’ve seen on television or in the movies and I’ve had the chance to meet them briefly and that’s been fun. I think the most amazing thing that’s happened in the past year (and I’m concerned about this sounding hokey if it’s ever put into print), but it’s just a couple of times where I’ve met or gotten a letter from someone who was young and gay and who felt as if they had a little more space to breathe because of what we’re doing right now. That is honestly the best thing about it. In particular I got a letter from a mom writing about her son who’s eight years old and he studies ballet, he’s an artist … he draws, he’s always creative, creative, creative. And he loves the show and watches the show, and this mother has no idea whether this kid’s going to grow up to be gay or straight, and she doesn’t care either way. And she writes, “I’m so thankful that you all are there because if he ends up being gay at least there’s been a positive presence in the media through all of you.” As a mother she was thankful that we’re there, doing what we’re doing.