Jai Rodriguez knows about the bumpy road to fame. By the age of 18 he had found success Off-Broadway and in the Broadway production of Rent. TV producers spotted him performing in a New York cabaret show and put him into a little reality TV show called Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. After five years of that wild pop culture ride, Rodriguez isn’t slowing down. He’s got many irons in the fire, including a different kind of bumpy road to fame: he’s in town this weekend for the Great Boston Burlesque Expo. Rodriguez will emcee the Expo’s big show on Saturday night, and be present during the day to meet fans and enjoy the expo. He spoke with Bay Windows about what the last five years have been like and what the next five hold.

So you’re going to be at the Boston Burlesque Expo. What’s up with that?
Jai: Don’t you like burlesque?

I do, but it’s not the first thing I associate with you.
A: No? You haven’t gone out with me, then.

Maybe we can remedy that this weekend. So how did this come about?
I’m a fan of burlesque. We had a burlesque group on Queer Eye, this three-girl group out of New York who are really fantastic and have a lot of acclaim. There was this club night in New York that would have a burlesque show at the end of the night. And they would bring in burlesque performers from all over the world. That sort of sparked my interest and now if I’m planning a party on a big scale I always try to get some amazing burlesque performer to come in. It’s really fantastic. And this show, the expo, has a lot of variety acts and tumblers and all kinds of stuff, along with the more classic kind of burlesque, which is very humorous of course. It’s going to be a lot of fun, so I’m really excited.

Are you going to be bumping and grinding?
I may bring a boa. We’ll see. I have no plans to perform, but you never know. A couple of drinks in me and look out. But I’ll be meeting people, talking and getting burlesque out there.

You’re a busy guy, you’re working on a CD now, right? Yeah, I just got signed to Airgo Music last week. I’ve been kind of shopping around ever since I did Celebrity Duets, the Simon Cowell show on Fox, in September. Because I did really well and all those people, like Patti LaBelle and Taylor Dane and Michelle Williams, were like, “You should do an album.” I’d wanted to do one but never thought it was really a possibility. So that show opened some doors for me. I’ll be going to New York for some preliminary work. I’ve already recorded some songs here in Los Angeles with some heavyweight producers. So I’m trying to concentrate and do it for real this time. Because I tried before but I tried with people who were so green that they couldn’t really take me to the next level, and now I’m working with people who are really fantastic.

What kind of music?
It’s basically pop. There are going to be some really great ballads, like something you’d hear on a Christina album. But the male version. You know, the “I’m hurt” kind of thing. And it’s going to be hopefully released this summer with the last season of Queer Eye, so it kind of sums up my experience. It’s been a very interesting one!

That’s an understatement. How do you feel about the show ending?
It’s weird, when I look at Queer Eye I don’t see myself. I see a good guy but I don’t see me. I was really playing a role, and was carefully produced to be this culture guy. They found me performing in a club. I never had any aspirations to be a TV host or a culture expert. I think they saw culture … as what they saw in me on stage the night they saw me perform, and they somehow wanted me to infuse that into the guys they were making over. Somehow that got called culture, and that label was very literal in the early seasons, which was why at first I thought, “What the hell am I doing on this show?” But I’m so grateful for the experience, I mean I have an Emmy and a New York Times bestseller and so many wonderful things. In like two months I went from living in a shabby loft to sitting on Oprah’s couch. So I’m eternally grateful for the experience but I’m glad to get back to my real life.

Does that mean getting back to Broadway?
I hope so someday, but right now I’m focused on staying in L.A. and working in TV and film.

And what projects are you working on?
About Miami through my eyes. All the cool things about Miami. I got to interview Ricky Martin and talk to people on the street and the beaches. It’s a really fun show and it’s coming out in May. And of course we have a season of Queer Eye coming out this summer. And right now I’m auditioning for pilots in Los Angeles.

Does your high profile have any impact at casting time?
I was just up for a role on a show playing a guy everyone thinks is gay but ends up sleeping with this girl. And they wouldn’t see me because they thought it wasn’t believable. But stuff like that hasn’t come up much. Gays are coming out of the woodwork like crazy lately, which I think is good. I’m glad people feel comfortable with who they are and are choosing to be out instead of being forced out.

So Queer Eye 5 is in the can?
Yeah, we finished shooting last year and they held the episodes they thought were the best for the last season. So that’s it. And that’s cool. No more feeling awkward while I tell someone he should do X, Y and Z when, you know, I’m really a bohemian performer out of New York. I mean, I’ve been on Broadway since I was 18. That’s my background, performance and singing, not the Emily Post school of etiquette. But like I said, I had fun with it. People stop me all the time and ask me for advice when I’m shopping, and I’m like, “Uh … that’s good … I think?” Right now I’m just wearing baggy jeans and a polo shirt. Oh, and a Red Sox cap, that’s appropriate.

Way to work it, I’ll be sure to mention that.
Grab those boys and have them come over. Not for makeovers, just to hang out.

Queer Eye did a lot for gay visibility, but some folks criticized it for reinforcing stereotypes. What do you think?
It had such a ridiculously huge impact. Not just in America, it’s syndicated in 120 countries. So Middle America has been softened to the notion of the gays. I mean, our demo was the red states. People who had never met a gay guy, except maybe the guy who did their hair, were tuning in to watch five gay guys every week. That’s huge. The first season I heard people complaining they had hired five stereotypes but really, it was just people doing their jobs. Carson worked for Ralph Lauren, and Thom already had a multi-million dollar design business. He didn’t need to do the show. It was working professionals letting their hair down and being themselves. We were just five guys hanging out. It’s only now that I realize what great chemistry we had, we were fast and funny and finishing each other’s sentences. I don’t know if I’ll ever have such a good experience again. So anyway, I think reality TV has a big impact on the world these days, much more than scripted.

You sound very grounded about the last five years.
A: advice. And what I saw … every gay guy has a good straight friend, and the other way around. Right? And there’s something really fantastic about that chemistry that the show caught. It highlighted the differences and especially the similarities. After spending a week with a guy he understood we had more in common than we were different. I mean, of course it’s a show and it’s supposed to entertain and we were being very grand and over the top. Also, being in that environment, where we were trying to get airtime and finding the balance between being funny and getting information across, I learned a lot from that. So now if I do some kinds of reality shows I get a producer credit because I have so much input. I can’t just stand there and wait for the camera to roll.

Do you want to get into production?
No, I want to get away from hosting and reality television. I feel like that was fun, but it’s time to get back to work now.