"I've never said this in an interview," Queer Eye's resident fashion expert Tan France began, "legitimately. But New Orleans was the hardest place we ever shot."
He's talking about the Netflix hit's upcoming seventh season, which saw the Fab Five—that's France along with Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown and Bobby Berk—head to the The Big Easy, a massive change from Philadelphia, Austin and Atlanta.
"I cried more this season than I've ever cried on Queer Eye ever," France, on break from filming Say Yes to the Dress UK, exclusively told E! News. "I've only ever cried twice on Queer Eye in the full seven seasons—the six seasons, and then the mini season in Japan. But I cried most episodes with this."
So why, exactly, did France become so teary-eyed, even after more than five years of doing this job? According to 39-year-old, it's because of the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the city in the summer of 2005.
"I didn't live in America when Katrina happened," the U.K. native explained. "Seeing the devastation, seeing what it did to families, seeing how much poverty it created, that's what got me. Some of our heroes have just never been able to recover. And so that's why the transformations were so special, because it's as if many of them have stood still in time."
And although France admitted the transformations are more difficult than they were in season one—by now, the heroes are familiar with the Fab Five's style—being well-known actually propels them to try something different.
"We were all talking about it—how hard that was the first couple of episodes—and then we realized it's actually pushing us to work harder and try something new that's gonna shock 'em, or say something that they wouldn't expect to say, or share some information about something we've never shared before," France noted. "So I think for all those reasons, this is the most interesting one. The most unique one."
Now, France is working with Klarna on a holiday gift guide, which he says he'll use in his Christmas shopping himself. The collection includes his top items across fashion, beauty, home and more—including a Balenciaga bag, which France gifted himself this year.
While there isn't a premiere date for Queer Eye season seven just yet, the first six seasons are now available to stream on Netflix.