Some people thrive in the spotlight; Thomas Diggs from Queer Eye is not necessarily one of those people. In Season 3, viewers met Thomas as he was just about to celebrate his 21st birthday party. Over the course of the episode, Thomas did open up a lot compared to in the beginning, but that doesn't mean he wants to or has to share that part of himself with the world now. After Queer Eye, Thomas is staying out of the public eye a bit and just living his life, which is totally understandable. "Since filming the show, my life has been relatively the same," he tells Refinery29 via email. "The main difference is everyone wants to know where I got my clothes, and I get way more compliments on my appearance than I did before." He jokes that he also "started eating more veggies, per Antoni's request!"
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When viewers first met Thomas, his sister said he spent most of his time in his room, at school, or at work. He didn't have much of a social life outside the computer, and she wanted to help break him out of his rut. She nominated him for Queer Eye and after a week with the Fab Five, Thomas really came into his own just in time for his big 21st birthday party. By the end of the episode he was describing himself as a lion and thanking the Fab Five for helping him open up. "I just want to say thank you all for spending this time with me and really getting to know me," he said. "You've played a huge role in breaking down those barriers and like those walls that I've put up."
Thomas still has some of those walls up online. His Facebook is totally private and Thomas' Instagram was private as well until a couple of days ago. He's since opened it up to the public, but he's only posted a handful of times since the show filmed back in the summer and fall of 2018. But Thomas tells Refinery29 that his life offline has been much more full since the show. "I haven't really changed my routine much, in ways of personal life, but I do make it a point to at least leave the house once a week and enjoy my life with friends. Whether that be old friends, or new ones!" he says.
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Ultimately, Thomas doesn't have to prove himself to anyone. At the end of his episode he said, "I'm going to keep doing what I do, and do it better." The point of Queer Eye isn't to turn you into a totally new person. It's to bring out the best version of who you already are. On the show, the Queer Eye heroes have to put their life on display — the good, the bad, and the ugly. And while they usually leave the show feeling more confident and looking their best with a brand new home makeover, that doesn't mean they want to keep sharing those parts of themselves all the time. He was already incredibly vulnerable on a TV show. He doesn't need to post every minute of the day on Instagram.
Aside from staying mostly private on his social media channels, Thomas' LinkedIn shows that he's still a student at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He's getting a Bachelor's in Computer Science and will graduate in 2022. He's also still an IT support specialist at Rockhurst University.
Though his life is mostly the same, Thomas credits Karamo for helping him change his attitude and outlook. "What Karamo helped me understand is that the more I told myself I was a 'sloth' or a 'turtle,' the lonelier I told myself to be," Thomas says. "I thought I was boring, uninspiring, unapproachable, and unsocial; and that's totally not the case!"
When Thomas said goodbye to the Fab Five, he promised, "I'm not going to let you down." And as long as he stays true to he is and tries to open up at least to the people he cares about, that's all that matters. Fans may not be able to look to Instagram to catch all the updates on his life, but it's not really our business anway. This show was always about Thomas' own growth and inner journey. And he's entitled to share as much or as little of that as he wants.