Fridae

Chicago designer and author Nate Berkus, who has been a regular contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show since 2002, debuts his new show this week.

Nate Berkus

Co-produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios, The Nate Berkus Show, which premiered across the US on Monday, promises to be "energetic, informational, and inspirational", says Berkus on the show's official website. It will feature a "vast array of topics, from stories of personal transformation to headline-making personalities to design tips & secrets, all explored through Nate’s distinctive filter."

The personal life of the 38-year-old founder of Chicago-based interior design firm Nate Berkus Associates became public after he appeared on The Oprah Show in January 2005 to talk about his ordeal of losing his partner in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. He and his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea were vacationing at a beach resort in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean tsunami hit. His partner was never found.

In an interview on Greginhollywood.com about being gay, Berkus said: “I’ve never defined myself by being gay, I’ve defined myself by being me. I’m a son, I’m a brother, I’m an uncle, I’m a gay man. Everybody has lots of different sides to them.”

“But what was really interesting to me was that after I survived the tsunami and lost my partner in 2004, I got so many letter from kids around the country who decided to come out watching what a relationship that they wanted to have for themselves could be like. I was so grateful to Oprah for telling that story not as a gay couple that went through a tragedy but as a couple that went through a tragedy. I do feel a responsibility but it’s not a responsibility because I’m a gay man and on daytime television. It’s a responsibility to the people who are giving me an hour of their day and I want to set the best example that I can.”