Whether you watch the hit Netflix reboot of the reality show "Queer Eye" or not, you've likely heard of the Fab Five -- the show's five hosts Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Nesa. And ahead of the series' third season, the fabulous hosts shared a few of the powerful moments that happened off-camera and what it has taught them in their new book, "Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Life."
"For five gay guys to go into rural America and feel as if we're making a change in bridging people together, it feels really good," Brown said Wednesday on "The View." Sometimes, he added, "you're greeting people who don't have the views that we have. We go in there with empathy and love and we say we're going to find our common ground instead of looking at the differences so that we can grow together."
(MORE: 'Queer Eye' Fab Five on how Season 1's biggest moments will carry over into Season 2)One of the men who the fab five helped makeover on season two of the feel-good hit had a "Make America Great Again" hat. "That guy actually ironically," Brown said, "he and I are best friends."
"We go into it defining them as people and they begin to define us as people and bridges start to get built," Berk said.
For Berk, who was raised in a very religious family and later had "the whole church turn their back" on him, episodes with particularly religious participants proved to be a pain point but turned it into an opportunity to teach a valuable lesson.
That lesson stretched off-camera when a preacher messaged Berk on Instagram.
"Having a preacher message me -- [and say] 'My whole life I was taught in church that homosexuality is a sin, they're pedophiles, heathens, they're definitely going to hell. And hearing you talk about how every single day of your life you cried, begged, pleaded and prayed for God not to make you gay, but you still are, shows me that it is not a choice and you were born that way, and I will never preach that hate in my church again.'"
Berk said that "to hear that now, that little kids growing up in that church aren't going to grow up and be taught to hate who they are, that's worth everything."
France, a Pakistani Muslim, said he honestly thought there would be "an adverse reaction" to being on the mainstream show, but said he has felt "so lucky to receive the most beautifully warm welcome from people all over the world."
"I wasn't expecting that from people in the Middle East. I get loads of DMs every single day saying it's so nice to see a version of me on the TV. I prayed for that as a kid," France explained. "Now it's lovely to be in the position to offer that for those kids out there."
Brown expanded on that point, adding that they all open themselves up to people and provide a judgment-free zone to learn and grow.
"We can't expect people to grow until we actually show them who we are and I think that's what we all do on the show and why it's so important to us," he explained. "People aren't going to be stuck when you say here's an opportunity for you to learn and I'm not going to judge you for learning."
France's mentality? "Here I am, this is me as a person. If you love me, great. If you don't, let's talk about it."