The fruitcake: a holiday tradition. But then so is sitting on laps in department stores. When you're giving the gift of food, consider giving something people would actually want to eat.

Ted Allen of 'Queer Eye for the

Straight Guy'

Food and Wine? Yes, please!

November 21, 2003

By Kelly, Entertainment Reporter
Photos © GoodTimes-LA

y friend Julie and I were going to meet up with Brian for some pizza and a movie (Gothika) one evening. On our way, we stopped at NBC to see if we could meet any of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast since they were guests on The Tonight Show. Jeff showed up and joined us. (He's a regular to the show who always has his cue card signed by everyone.) Jeff was getting all of Missy Elliott's dancers to sign. When Missy's entourage drove past, the big bodyguard in the front seat gave us all a stare-down. Ooh, we're so scared!

I saw a few people walking in our direction, and that's when I recognized Ted Allen in the group. He's the food and wine queer. I pointed him out to Jeff and Julie, and once they approached us, Jeff asked Ted to sign his cue card which he was happy to do. As he was signing, I asked him my usual question, "How do you feel about yourself tonight?"

Ted looked at me and said, "I think we did pretty good!"

Jeff asked me to snap a picture of the two of them, so I got the camera ready and as Ted was posing for the picture, he looked at me again and asked, "What did you think of the show?"

I quickly hid my face behind the camera and took the picture, not sure how to respond and embarrassed to say I came only to "stalk" the Queer Eyes, and didn't actually go to the show. But who cares, right? After I took the picture, Ted asked again! "We did all right, didn't we?"

I finally said, "We really only came here to meet you guys!"

"Awwww!" Ted said, coming over to shake my hand. I then asked if we could get a picture together. He said sure, and I mumbled my usual "sharing a digital moment" blurb which Ted got a huge kick out of. Julie went to take our picture but couldn't figure out where to look to take the picture, so I jumped over to her to show her and make sure the camera was on. I went back to Ted and he threw his arm around me and I said, "Thanks for being patient." He said, "No problem!" Then Julie took our picture.

We then got Ted to pose with Julie and as I was about to take their picture, Ted said, "Now don't forget to watch our show--"

"I watch every episode," I chimed in. Then Ted said something about the Nielsen ratings (I didn't catch it), and he added, "We're going to have some more episodes on NBC."

Julie screamed in joy at this point, "NBC!!!! Yeah!" Yes, she's excited because, as she told Ted, she doesn't have cable. It was soooo cute how excited and giddy she was, and Ted was giddy too. Hee!

After I took their picture, Ted said, "We'll be on NBC on the 25th and 26th."

We promised to watch.

We said goodbye to Ted and he said, "The other guys are coming. They're just slow."

He left, and we waited around for the others. We never saw them. A limo passed by and Jeff was waving his cue card and was asking if they'd sign. The limo never stopped. Oh well. Julie really wanted to see Jai but no luck. Who cares. Ted was cool as hell. The dude rocks and rules.

We'll get the other Queers next time.

They're here, they're Queer, and if you're a straight guy, they'll give you a makeover! Catch them on Bravo.