'Queer Eye's' Tan France faced racism as a kid. Then he brushed off bullies and discovered self-love

You might know him from the French tuck or his distinctive hair.

But "Queer Eye's" fashion guru Tan France wants fans to get to know him beyond the surface. His new book, "Naturally Tan," provides a deeper look at the English designer's life.

"I wanted the opportunity to really say it as it is," he told The Times over the phone, "and to be able to speak on things that I don't think I'd be able to speak on, on the show."

"It's the most real version you'll come across of me for sure," France says.

As the title suggests, France speaks openly in the book about his skin color and how it's affected him from childhood to adulthood.

At age 5, he remembers thinking, "God, I'd give anything to be white. I fantasized all the time about what it would feel like to be a white person - nobody would ever comment about your race," he writes in the book.

Today, he embraces his skin color, calling it "the most beautiful thing about my appearance."

But he writes of others