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Where is Denton Mallas now? 'Queer Eye's first deaf hero scores workplace promotion after emotional makeover from Fab Five

Denton appeared on Season 8 of 'Queer Eye' not just for a makeover, but also to promote deaf football programs and showcase the community's tight relationship

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: Denton Mallas serves as the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at the Louisiana School for the Deaf. He was even known for his genuine passion for the sport, overcoming deafness to coach young sportsmen.

Denton appeared on Season 8 of 'Queer Eye' not just for a makeover, but also to promote deaf football programs and showcase the community's tight relationship.

Denton's efforts to improve his confidence both inside and outside have paid off tenfold. He has subsequently been named Teacher of the Year (on his birthday, no less!) and promoted to dean of students.

"It has been quite a whirlwind of a year," Denton told Tudum. While his new responsibilities keep him busy, Denton continues to serve as the athletic director at the Louisiana School for the Deaf and Visually Impaired.

"I made several changes and improvements in the athletic department, and I'm still undertaking more projects."

Tan France's excellent sartorial guidance has helped Denton dress appropriately for his job(s). "The biggest takeaway from the show was really to maintain confidence in myself and trust me that I do make a difference," he adds, adding that he is still a "work in progress."

But Denton has made significant improvements in self-care, including playing racquetball with his wife twice a week, which he says is now "of the utmost importance" to him.

Who nominated Denton Mallas for 'Queer Eye' Season 8?

Season 8 of the reality TV show 'Queer Eye' premiered on Netflix on January 24th, including a Deaf individual named Denton and the Louisiana School for the Deaf football team. Denton is the dean of students and athletic director at LSD.

It seems that Dr Natalie Delgado, the executive director of LSD, and her fiancee Marissa Ramos, nominated Denton for the show as they are good friends.

'Queer Eye' Season 8 hero Denton Mallas inspired by dad

Denton's tenure as the head coach at the Louisiana School of the Deaf (LSD) has been distinct, embodying the timeless wisdom that actions carry more weight than words.

Denton, who is deaf, harbored a keen passion for a career in athletics since his fifth-grade years. He initiated his journey in flag football and progressed to tackle football during seventh grade, joining a middle school squad in South Milwaukee.

Denton's father inspired him to pursue his interests. When Denton entered high school, his interest in football grew significantly. He attended the Wisconsin School for the Deaf (WSD).

During his high school years, Denton experienced unique opportunities that many other high school athletes might never encounter. Transitioning from eight-man football, he then progressed to the university level.

He went to Gallaudet University to play on the only all-deaf collegiate football team in the country. During his football career, Denton played a variety of roles.

As a defensive back, Denton maximized his contributions to the Bison, particularly excelling on special teams. The distinctive environment at Gallaudet presented a unique setting, marking a significant stride in Denton's journey towards becoming a head coach.

Denton's enthusiasm for football helped him land a graduate assistant coaching position with the Bison football team after his playing career ended.

By 2016, Denton had joined Susan Gremillion's LSD football coaching staff as an assistant.

That year, LSD won the eight-man football national title. In 2017, Susan stepped down, and Denton took over.

While LSD continues to play eight-man football and aim for championship glory, other deaf schools are losing athletic programs. However, Denton believes that teams like his might attract more deaf students to these institutions and keep the deaf community flourishing.

'Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown advocated for hard-of-hearing fans

Karamo Brown, one of the stars of 'Queer Eye', has already been commended by the Deaf community for his vow to add subtitles/captions to videos and to learn some basic sign language. If you have a Netflix subscription, you may watch season 8 and find Denton there.

In 2018, the Fab Five of 'Queer Eye' committed to making the program more inclusive as it progressed, as seen by the second season's shift from including just cisgender men to including both a woman and a transgender person.

In response to online concerns from fans who are deaf or hard of hearing, Karamo, 'Queer Eye's resident culture expert and king of empathy, stayed firm on his pledge of accessibility.

Karamo was alerted of the problem via X, where fans who are deaf or hard of hearing and rely on subtitle captions expressed their dissatisfaction with the differences in how Netflix converts 'Queer Eye' to text.

Fans have remarked that the profanity that is audibly bleeped out in the show is replaced with new terms altogether in the captions, and in other cases, the conversation is substantially changed and simplified.

Karamo, who has a history of campaigning for minorities and has worked as a social worker for over ten years, replied to fan complaints on X with an active pledge.

"Reading everyone's comments breaks my heart." His tweet reads.

"I don’t know how much power I have but know, the next time I’m at Netflix I’m going to bring up this issue internally & wont stop until something changes. Deaf & HOH people should have the same experience as everyone else!"

'Queer Eye' Season 8 is currently streaming on Netflix in its entirety.