Tan France: who is Queer Eye presenter, does he have a husband - and when is Beauty and The Bleach on TV?

The new BBC Two documentary, Beauty and the Bleach, will be presented by Queer Eye’s Tan France.

The hour-long special will look into Tan’s own history with skin whitening, which he first tried when he was a child.

Tan will speak to various public figures in the BAME community who have experienced discrimination and abuse because of their skin colour.

Who is Tan France?

Tan is a presenter for the hit Netflix lifestyle show Queer Eye, where he and the other members of the Fab Five help transform deserving people’s live.

Tan is the show’s stylist and helps create a new wardrobe for the programme’s stars.

He was born in Doncaster to Pakistani parents in 1983 and is one of the first openly gay Muslim men on western television.

Tan became interested in fashion as a young teenager when he worked at his grandparents’ denim factory.

He worked as a designer and director at major high street retailers including Selfridges and Zara.

Tan eventually immigrated to the US in 2015 where he opened his fashion company Kingdom & State - he became a naturalised US citizen in 2020.

His profile grew after he joined Queer Eye in 2018, and he has since appeared in the music video for Taylor Swift’s You Need to Calm Down.

Tan featured in The Great British Bake Off for Stand up to Cancer, winning the episode, and co-hosts the Netflix design competition series Next in Fashion with Alexa Chung.

He released a memoir, Naturally Tan, in 2019 about his experience growing up in a Muslim family in Doncaster, and the Islamophobia he experienced following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Tan has a husband, Rob, a pediatric nurse and illustrator, who he married twice - once in London and again in New York City when gay marriage was legalised there.

What is Beauty and the Bleach about?

The documentary focuses on the controversial beauty trend of skin whitening.

When Tan was nine years old he stole some skin-lightening cream and used it on his own skin.

Tan suffered racist bullying in his predominantly white hometown of Doncaster and also felt that in the South Asian community, lighter skin was seen as a way to get better job, career and marriage prospects.

The documentary will see Tan discuss issues of colourism - discrimination based not just on the colour of your skin, but on the shade of it - and how it affects BAME people in the UK and US.

Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland will feature in the documentary as she speaks to Tan about her experiences of colourism.

In the UK, Tan will meet with Bunmi Mojekwu, who played Mercy Olubunmi in EastEnders and received abuse on social media - some of it from the black community - because of the colour of her skin.

Tan will also return to Doncaster in the documentary to confront his past trauma.

When is Beauty and the Bleach on TV?

Beauty and the Bleach will air on BBC Two on 27 April at 9pm.

It will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after it is first broadcast.