Background and career
Carson Kressley (born November 11, 1969) is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He was also the motivational host of the TV show How to Look Good Naked and OWN's Carson Nation and a contestant on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars. Since 2015, Kressley has been a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. Beginning in October 2018, he teamed up with former Queer Eye colleague Thom Filicia for a new series called Get a Room with Carson & Thom on Bravo. The series followed the two as Thom mentored Carson in the interior design business, and featured two clients in each episode. The show lasted one ten-episode season on Bravo, with the final episode broadcast on December 22, 2018. Kressley has also starred in six seasons on the acclaimed Food Network series BBQ BRAWL as head judge and host.
Kressley was born on November 11, 1969 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby Orefield, Pennsylvania. His family raised ponies. He competed in equestrian events from an early age and was a member of the U.S. World Cup Saddle Seat equitation team in 1999. One of his horses won a World Championship in 2009. He graduated from Northwestern Lehigh High School in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania, in 1987. In 1991, he earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity.
Kressley began his career as an independent stylist, then worked for Ralph Lauren from 1994 until 2002, working in menswear and corporate advertising. In 2003, Kressley gained exposure as the fashion savant on Queer Eye when the show debuted on the Bravo cable television network. Kressley appears on Good Morning America, the E! Network, and others. Furthermore, he has critiqued red carpet fashions at the Oscars and the Golden Globes. In 2005, he acted as a judge for the Miss Universe pageant, which aired from Bangkok, Thailand. In 2006, he returned to the Miss Universe pageant as commentator and was a commentator for the 2006 Miss USA pageant. In February 2007, he was the host of a new Lifetime makeover show, How to Look Good Naked, a U.S. version of a British series. The show's premiere episode on January 4, 2008, drew a record 1.6 million viewers, included significant viewership among adults 18-49 and adults 18–34 as well as the network's target demographic of women aged 18–34. In January 2008, the debut episode of How to Look Good Naked was Lifetime's highest-rated premiere in those three demographics. Kressley appeared as Master of Ceremonies on Cyndi Lauper's True Colors tour in 2008. He was a host on the ABC series True Beauty, along with Vanessa Minnillo and Beth Stern. In 2011, Kressley began a show, Carson Nation, on the Oprah Winfrey Network. In 2018, Kressley joined with his former Queer Eye teammate Thom Filicia for Get a Room with Carson & Thom on Bravo. The program lasted one season, covering ten episodes that were broadcast from October through December 2018. In September 2026, Kressley launched his interview podcast Off the Cuff.
In November 2006, Kressley competed on a celebrity edition of Jeopardy against Regis Philbin and Nancy Grace. Carson took second place, losing by one dollar. In September 2011, Kressley was a participant on the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Anna Trebunskaya. Kressley proved to be a fan favorite but was voted off week five of the competition. In August 2016, Kressley appeared on Celebrity Family Feud with members of his family. In January 2017, Kressley appeared as a contestant on The New Celebrity Apprentice. In February 2017, Kressley became a celebrity contestant on the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. In August 2017, Kressley was a contestant on season 11 of Worst Cooks in America. In February 2015, Kressley appeared as a contestant on The Chase. In February 2022, Kressley appeared as a HouseGuest on the third season of Celebrity Big Brother. In September 2023, Kressley appeared as a contestant on season 3 of Name That Tune against Olympian Lolo Jones. Kressley won the grand prize of $125,000 for his charity of choice, The Kempton Community Center. Since 2023, Kressley has been part of a rotating panel of celebrities on the game show 25 Words or Less.
He judged the Miss Universe 2005 and Miss Universe 2023 pageants. In May 2007, he acted as a judge on reality series Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants where mother and daughter teams compete in a beauty pageant. In 2015, Kressley and Ross Mathews were named as new regular judges for the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In 2016 he also became a regular judge on the spin-off RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars from its second season onwards, in 2020 he judged RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race and in 2024 he guest judged RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars. In December 2019, he appeared as a judge on the Freeform gift wrap competition, Wrap Battle. In June 2021, he appeared as a judge on the Food Network BBQ competition series, BBQ Brawl. In July 2022, he appeared as a guest judge on Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay. In November 2025, it was announced he would be a rotating judge on the sixth season of Canada's Drag Race.
In July 2006, Kressley was the commentator alongside former Miss USA, Shandi Finnessey. In May 2016, Kressley was announced as a commentator with Michelle Collins for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 on Logo TV; the first time the United States has broadcast the competition live. In November 2017, Kressley appeared as a commentator alongside Lu Sierra and Ashley Graham for Miss Universe 2017. The pair also commentated in May 2018, the Miss USA 2018. Kressley and Sierra were slated to return at the Miss Universe 2018. In December 2021, Kressley along with reigning Miss Universe Andrea Meza hosted the Miss Universe 2021 preliminary competition. He also served as commentator for the finals along with Miss USA 2019, Cheslie Kryst. Kressley hosted "Couched with Carson Kressley", a house/garden talk show on The Roku Channel from 2020 to 2021.
