"Design Star 3": More Design – Still Gay

But while the camera follows him as he walks dejectedly down the hall, judge Vern Yip (Deserving Design) comes flying after him, giving him an avuncular pep talk and bringing him back for a second – and successful – try.

Stribling (left) with Vern Yip

"When I went back in I was like, OK, I already screwed it up from that point so it can only get better," he said. "So I go in and it was like hot. I went in and I owned the place, I think."

It's not unusual that two out gay contestants made the cut, and not just because interior design is a pretty gay-male-friendly field. Since its first season, when David Bromstad (Color Splash) became America's first design star, the series has had out gay contestants in every round.

Last season featured Josh Johnson and Scott Corridan, although both were eliminated fairly early in the competition. I asked Matt and Michael how the producers approach the issue of the sexual orientation of the contestants.

Michael, who hails from College Station, TX, and heads up his own design firm, Michael Stribling Interiors, said the show's producers were probably wondering if he was gay or straight, but no one came out and asked him.

"They thought I was just some metrosexual guy," he said with a laugh. "But I’m very proud of who I am, and so I personally offered it. Being asked to come out there alone was such a big experience, so I was going to be myself and have fun with it, and that’s what I did. And that’s what got me on the show."

Matt had a similar experience. "What I liked filming Design Star is it just never came up," he said. "Your sexuality was completely inconsequential. And you could tell that for the entire production, the staff, the other contestants, it just wasn’t an issue. And you could talk about it or not. There was utter neutrality, which I absolutely loved. Just be yourself, do what you want. And it made me feel good."

Stribling more than hinted that he and Locke weren't the only gay contestants this season, just the only out gay contestants. But he said he understands the reasons why someone might hesitate to come out publicly.

"I come from a very strong Christian family," he said. "And that's hard, but at the end of the day I’m supporting myself. I’m going to be true to myself and be true to my viewers and my fans because of who I am."

I asked how his family was going to handle his newfound fame, and he laughed. "The first thing they've already seen was what you wrote on AfterElton," he said. "They're just not going to read those kind of things, they're just going to ignore it and not deal with it." He paused. "They just have to do what they have to do, I guess."

Locke is no stranger to those issues, either. "My family and I have had a rough go with this," he said. "We have a long history of trouble in this area. We kind of broke up and I moved to LA, and we weren’t really speaking."