Coming out to a parent is a loaded and emotionally charged moment. will that parent love the child as is, reject them, or be stunned and in shock and unable to process the information?
Last night the premiere of E!’s breakaway hit Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian kicked off season three with this very issue with one Revenge Body participant who was coached not just for a style makeover, but a pep talk on how to tell dad that his son was gay. Tan France gave Deeran advice on everything from a fabulous new wardrobe to coaching him on how to approach and deliver the news to his father.
The Queer Eye star was invited on the premiere of Revenge Body to dress Deeran for his big reveal.
But it was the sharing of his own personal story that emboldened Deeran to be truthful with his own father.
Watch the clip below as Tan shared his own coming out story as Deeran steeled himself to do his own.
Upon finding out that Tan was his stylist by a very excited Khloe, Deeran was over the moon and said, “I cannot wait! He is so fabulous and fierce and I know he’s about to bring that to my wardrobe!”
The two men discussed the moment of truth and Deeran’s fears about letting his dad know he was a gay man.
“Try to be as honest as you can with your dad I think okay?” Khloe told Deeran. “Look… you have to live for yourself. Self-love is not selfish… so guys, bond!”
“Okay so how are you feeling about that conversation with your dad? I want to know,” Tan France asked Deeran about his emotional well-being. “What will you say? Practice on me.”
Deeran is riddled with fears and apprehensions about the conversation to come. “I have so much anxiety…[it is] so crazy,” he said.
Tan tried to put him at ease and noted that many gay people have been through this moment. He shared he was also full of anxiety before he told his own parents and understood where Deeran was coming from.
“We’ve all been through it,” Tan told Deeran.
He counseled Deeran to tell his dad the truth. He said, “Say, ‘I love you, I want you in my life but I’ve got something to tell you. I am gay that doesn’t change who I am.”
Understandably, Deeran wanted to know exactly how it was after Tan told his parents he was gay.
Tan was honest about the moment. “To be completely real it was hard at first. The first few months were very very difficult… it wasn’t that they were mean to me it was just that they didn’t understand. You’ve got to accept the fact that they are gonna be shocked.”
Later in the clip, Deeran revealed what was at stake. He said, “I spent the large part of my life trying to please my dad, from joining the military to trying to act macho to heighten my sexuality and I’m at a point in time now where I want to be my real self …but I am afraid that my father will not be able to receive the message I want him to receive in the way that I want him to receive it.”
The third season of Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian continued the transformative journeys of men and women finding the strength to prove to themselves they are worthy of love and respect.
With the help of Khloé and her veteran workout guides Corey Calliet, Latreal Mitchell, Simone De La Rue and more these new participants’ uplifting stories are interspersed with the day-to-day struggle of working out and getting healthier.
With the guidance of Khloé, these health, beauty, and style experts will give these individuals the encouragement they need and the help they desire to become better versions of themselves, for themselves.
Revenge Body’s redemption stories are back again on Sunday nights on E! and season three kicked off this past Sunday, July 7.
Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian airs Sundays at 9/8c on E!