By Anne Marie Allocca
Phil Dickler, a biology teacher, his wife, Julie, a pre-K teacher, and their son, Harrison, were on the receiving end of the Fab Five's talents.
Though Phil is admittedly not a fan of reality television, when he received an e-mail from Coliseum Connection promoting "Queer Eye's" search for an interesting guy who loves monster trucks, he knew he fit the bill. "I had Julie take a picture of me with my monster truck," he said. "I also Tivoed the show to see what I was getting myself into. The guys do amazing work. When we got the call for the interview, we were very excited. I feel like I won the Lotto."
"Queer Eye" Executive Producer Linda Lea knew she had found the Fab Five's first makeover couple in the Dicklers. "'Queer Eye' has now expanded into couples, girls and families," Lea said. "We were drawn to them because of the couple element. They had all the things we need to cast - a real sincere need to change, and they were open to us. They were interested in a physical transformation."
Phil sports long "rocker" hair and collects everything and anything from animal skulls to clocks and radios to alien creatures. Julie also admits to having a passion for collecting. She collects elephants. Her prized possession is a hand-carved table with matching hand-carved chairs. After years of collecting, however, even Phil admits the Fab Five could teach him a thing or two about streamlining his collection.
"When Julie and I started dating in high school, every single spare moment and bit of money was spent working on cars and going to car shows together," Phil said. "I'm kind of an eclectic collector. I'm a biologist -- I teach high school biology and animal science. I'm into change over time, like evolution. I like the ways cars have changed over time, radios and clocks, so a lot of things I have reflect that kind of evolution of technology. I've got old clocks, old furniture, each skull is like its own little natural piece of art, and they look like sculptures. It sounds a little Addams Family-ish, but it was something that always kind of interested myself and Julie."
Enter the Fab Five. "They saw we had this unrelated stuff all over the place," Phil. "They focused us in and helped us to weed out what was important and not important and what should be displayed and not displayed. They respected our taste."
As fans of the show know, it's pretty much open season on the décor of the homes the Fab Five visit. Was Julie ready to relinquish her possessions? "In the beginning stages we talked a lot about things that we felt we truly were attached to," she said. "My elephant table I cannot be without, and then we go from there. They really wanted to help us incorporate the things that we had and then add new ideas into the equation."
While the Fab Five worked their magic, the Dicklers were treated to a stay at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan and a visit to the Warren-Tricomi salon, an unforgettable experience. "The one thing that was furthest removed from our normal lives was the salon," Phil said. "It was such a neat little glimpse into a world that we're not generally part of, with the clientele that was going in and out of the place. It was nice being with not just a haircutter, but someone who's an artist. It's kind of like hanging around with the Rolling Stones."
Seeing his family's new look was also fun. "Harrison looked great," Phil said. "I loved the clothes they picked out for him. He was great with the guys and had so much fun. Julie's makeover - they shocked me with her. It took my breath away."
Keeping up with her new look has been a breeze for Julie. "I'm very proud about that," she said. "I learned from the best, so I'm able to maintain what they taught me. I think I'm doing all right."
The culmination of the Dickler family transformation was a night at the Monster Truck Jam at Nassau Coliseum, complete with Phil's monster truck filled with collectibles. Kathleen Murtha, who produced the episode, sets the scene. "It was a fun evening for us at the Monster Jam," Murtha said. "These big huge monster trucks crash over cars and trucks. [The family's] favorite truck was "Grave Digger," and the driver is Dennis Anderson. He annihilated this truck, and it was cathartic for them. All of their friends were there cheering."
The episode - No. 233 - will air this summer, and Phil is eager to see his family's transformation on the small screen, because they were separated at the spa. "I have no idea what Julie was doing, and she has no idea what I was doing, so it will be a reveal for us, too," he said.
"It was truly a fabulous experience from beginning to end," said Julie.
