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Life Before Fame: 'Queer Eye's' Karamo Brown

Karamo Brown provides the heart and soul in the Netflix series, Queer Eye. With his infectious demeanor, we are always touched by his positive outlook and advice on life. Even before he became the 'culture expert' in the series, Karamo was on one of the most popular shows of MTV during the early 2000s! Check out Karamo's life before fame and the red carpets in our article!

Karamo Brown is a famous reality star
He is best known for 'Queer Eye'
Learn more about Karamo's life before fame

At 43 years old, Karamo Brown holds a vast amount of wisdom beyond his years! Brown has been through a lot growing up but has always persisted through any hard situation thrown at him. In 2004, he started his career in the MTV reality series, The Real World: Philadelphia. At this time, he was the first openly gay African American to ever appear on a reality show. After the series, he was bombarded with HUGE news: his former high school girlfriend told him he had a son.

Karamo starred in The Real World before Queer Eye

When Karamo was just 16 years old, he came out as openly gay in his hometown of Coral Springs, Florida. Little did he know, his girlfriend had a baby when they were together at age 15. When she gave him this unexpected news 10 years later, he admitted he was "confused, sad, and angry and weirdly excited to be a dad", according to Parents online. He now has full custody of his son, Jason, as well as Jason's half-brother, Chris. He's stated how he gave up the partying life of drugs and alcohol to focus on becoming the best father he could be.

Brown is also a high school graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where he has become an advocate for new gun safety legislation. Also after his reality role in Real World, he pursued a college degree at Florida A&M University and worked as a social worker upon completing his degree.

In 2014, Karamo finally got the job opportunity of a lifetime: working for Oprah. He had his own daily web show, host of #OWNShow. Just like the expert advice he gives on Queer Eye, Karamo also provided authenticity and inspiration for viewers. Today, Brown has a packed but fulfilling life, as he completes all of his life dreams of being a father, an activist, TV personality, author, and now a podcast host. He even got to compete in a season of Dancing with the Stars, and be sure to find him and the Fab Five crew on Netflix for more inspiring stories of faith and courage!