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Kyan Douglas (born Hugh Edward Douglas Jr.; May 5, 1970) is an American
television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
and stylist. He was the grooming expert on the American television program '' Queer Eye'' from 2003 to 2007.


Biography

Born Hugh Edward Douglas Jr. in
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Kyan Douglas was raised in
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
and
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
. He has a sister, Kelli (who first taught him about styling hair). During Highschool He became close friends with a current Latin teacher at Sidwell Friends School Leigh Gilman. After high school he moved first to
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, where he studied philosophy at
Brookhaven College Dallas College Brookhaven Campus (Brookhaven or BHC) is a public community college in Farmers Branch, Texas. It is one of seven campuses of Dallas College, and it opened in 1978, making it the newest campus in Dallas College (excluding satellite ...
and first became interested in religion and the healing arts. He then moved to
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, where he had initially planned to pursue his interest in acting by studying drama at the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, though he was precluded by his extreme shyness. In his mid-twenties, he moved to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, where he earned a degree in TV production and theater studies at Loyola University. In 1996 three of Douglas' close friends were murdered in a restaurant robbery where both they and Douglas worked. This motivated him to leave
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. Douglas was in a serious relationship with publicist and gay rights activist Gregory Durham from March 2004 to August 2006. In July 2006, they became briefly engaged. He was previously rumored to be dating (in fall 2003) '' Queer as Folk'' actor Robert Gant. Gant confirmed to ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' that the pair had dated briefly, but were just friends. Douglas moved from New York to Los Angeles, California in 2007. He told the now defunct TV show ''Out in Dallas'' that he wanted to pursue acting, and was taking acting classes. In November 2007, he told
Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...
satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...
channel
OutQ OutQ was a news, talk and entertainment channel on Sirius XM Radio, targeted for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender audiences. The channel was available to Sirius and XM subscribers in both the United States and Canada. Personalities assoc ...
that he was in the process of purchasing land in Mexico, and was considering opening a
yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
retreat there.


Career

Douglas moved to New York City in 1999 and started work in sales for
Aveda Aveda Corporation ( ) is an American cosmetics company founded by Horst Rechelbacher, now owned by Estée Lauder Companies, and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aveda manufactures skin and body care, cosmetics, perfume (internally call ...
, then helped them set up the ''Aveda Institute'', a hairstyling and grooming school. He enrolled in its cosmetology program, and after graduating at the top of his class, he joined the New York-based hair salon
Arrojo Studio Nick Arrojo (born 7 January 1966) is a celebrity hair stylist based in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Born in Manchester, England, Arrojo worked as a stylist for Vidal Sassoon, Wella International, and Bumble & Bumble salons before star ...
as a colorist. He began working on the makeover TV shows '' What Not to Wear'' and ''
While You Were Out ''While You Were Out'' is an American reality series that aired episodes on the cable channel TLC. The format of the show is similar to TLC's ''Trading Spaces'' (which, in turn, is based on the BBC TV series ''Changing Rooms''). ''While You We ...
'' as well. In 2002, a client at Arrojo told him about a makeover show that was being cast. Kyan sent a photo of himself and a short bio he'd written to the producers. They called him for an audition and quickly hired him as the show's "Grooming Guru". As part of '' Queer Eye'' "Fab Five" Douglas has co-authored a book and appeared on a soundtrack CD and accompanying
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
based on the show, as well as appeared on many magazine covers and TV talk shows. In 2004 he published ''Beautified'', his own book on grooming for women, and became a spokesman and product advisor for
L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, sk ...
. He was also invited back to speak at his alma mater
Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...
in 2004. In 2009, he took over as host of ''Ten Years Younger'' (starting with the show's fourth season) on TLC.


Awards

''Queer Eye'' won an
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in 2004 for Outstanding Reality Program, and received a nomination again in the same category in 2005. In 2006, Douglas was awarded the HRC's Humanitarian Award for his work with a number of charities, including HRC, DIFFA, and
AmFAR amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, known until 2005 as the American Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Kyan 1970 births Living people Primetime Emmy Award winners LGBT people from Florida Loyola University New Orleans alumni People from Tallahassee, Florida People from Miami American LGBT broadcasters Television personalities from Florida