A New Team Gay Takes the Stage on HGTV's "Design Star"

Why is HGTV's Design Star like Noah's ark? Because the gays go two by two.

It seems like almost every season, they give us two out gay male contestants to interview and feature in our coverage of the interior design reality competition show. Season before last, we ended up with a third, stealth member, but my prediction is that no one in this season's cast is a gay cop who's also an ex-adult film star.

One thing I'm sure of, though: If you watch Design Star for the design, you'll enjoy the premiere episode. They skip the big intros and backstage drama and go right to most people's favorite challenge, the white room, with the added twist that each designer is creating a room for one of his or her fellow designers.

It's an opportunity to get to know all the designers really quickly (as well as for our first hint of backstabbing, for those who can't imagine reality TV without it) as well as to see what they've got in the way of design chops.

For those who are watching for Team Gay, this year they're Trent Hultgren of Venice Beach, Ca, and New York City's Michael Moeller, right.

Far from being an ex-adult movie actor, Trent's an ex-missionary with a degree in theology. Michael, on the other hand, grew up in rural New York State rearranging the furniture in the family home,and got his degree in interior design from The New England School of Art & Design in Boston.

The judges this season are my design goddess, Candice Olson (Divine Design), Genevieve Gorder (Dear Genevieve) and out gay designer Vern Yip (Urban Oasis). 

The sadists at HGTV give us screeners with the elimination snipped out, so I don't know who gets cut in the first episode, but I'll tell you that one member of Team Gay is in the top six and thus, out of danger.

You'll have to tune in this Sunday to find out what happens next.

The fifth season premiere of Design Star is on Sunday, June 13, at 10 PM ET/PT on HGTV.