Every episode of Queer Eye can make you cry, but especially Rob Elrod's episode in Queer Eye Season 3. The Fab Five entered his life two years after his wife Allison passed away from a fight with cancer. In the episode, Rob was just trying to get through each day raising his two young sons while also allowing room to grieve his wife. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show filmed in the Kansas City area back in the summer and fall of 2018, so what is Rob doing now after Queer Eye?
The father of two sons, ages five and three, tells Refinery29 via email that these days he's bartending and "enjoying my new house and new life." On his episode of the series, he was in the process of moving into a new home for a fresh start after Allison's death. The Fab Five helped him move and, in the process, shed some of his old ways of living. Antoni encouraged him to step away from the microwave and start cooking fresh, healthy foods for his sons when he's able to. And the rest of the group helped Rob regain his confidence and understand that while of course he'll always have part of him that's grieving Alison, it's okay to move forward as well.
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Rob seems to love his Queer Eye makeover, because he uploaded a Facebook profile photo of his new look shortly after filming. In the photo, he's at a concert — an activity that always makes him feel energized and refreshed, as he said on the show. His Facebook timeline also shows he imparted some of Jonathan's styling skills onto his kids. There's a cute photo of his kids with their hair all done — his youngest son sporting a cool mohawk. They're both dressed in the sequin dinosaur sweatshirts that Tan and Karamo helped them pick out on the episode.
Rob tells Refinery29 that the show renewed his confidence in himself — but also his confidence in being a father. "[I now] know I can take care of my boys on my own. It’s great to have help available when needed, but I can shop for clothes, get their hair cut, and cook them a healthy meal without forgetting about me," he said. It's a marked change from the episode which showed that Rob's mother-in-law was doing a lot of the shopping for his sons, and Rob wasn't doing much cooking outside of the microwave. Great in a pinch, but Rob said he and Allison liked to cook and entertain so it's great to hear from him that he's keeping up with those kinds of things.
Karamo and Tan made sure to include shopping lessons for Rob's kids while they were there, since it was something he hadn't necessarily been used to doing. They took his family to an H&M where Tan suggested Rob stick to a "color story" for the boys, which would make it easier to mix and match greens, blues, and whites for example.
Being on the show wasn't only just one week of change for Rob, he seems to have really instilled the Fab Five's suggestions and changes in his life. Now he's focusing on raising his sons and making time for himself along the way. A true Queer Eye success story.