Nine cuts ‘gay kiss’ from Australia’s Perfect Couple
Not so Perfect Couples? Nine got cold feet in the premiere episode of its new reality show, editing out same-sex kisses from its very first challenge.
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Channel Nine may have cast two same-sex contestants in Australia’s Perfect Couple, but it got cold feet when it came to including a same-sex kiss in the first episode.
Instead the moment ended up on the cutting room floor.
As part of the first challenge in the reality contest, the men were blindfolded and left to identify their partner as all the ladies pecked them discreetly on the cheek.
To keep things fair, a blindfolded Dan was pecked on the cheek by a bunch of male models and his partner Robbie. Like the heterosexual couples, the kisses were quick and platonic as part of a frivolous game.
But when Nine aired the episode, the scenes with Dan and the male models did not appear.
Instead viewers returned from a commercial break to find the game over.
Reader Russell told TV Tonight: “Watched the first segment, ended with a mighty quick flash of the male models being asked to kiss the guy on the cheek and then an ad break. Expecting to see the boys turn after the break and they had decided to go straight to the results!? Funny how they showed each woman kissing each man on the cheek. But it was odd when reading out the results, they went to the gay couple and said he was person number two, but the audience had no idea because they did not show the gay kisses. Based on this, I had to switch off – if you are going to include a gay couple on a show like this, don’t skim over them, treat them as equally as every other couple on the show. Surely a kiss on the cheek is not that offensive to most viewers, geez. I’ve seen worse on either Footy Show.”
On Nine’s own website, Ed from Melbourne said: “I find it absurd that Channel Nine decided to hack out the “boy kisses” (Robbie and Dan) section of the cheek kissing challenge, when it was immediately followed by a promo for The Ugly Truth, featuring Katherine Heigl doing oral…. things to a hotdog. That’s screwed up. A couple of cheek kisses between boys – BIG NO. Girl performs *** on a hotdog – YES. Get real, Nine. So much for trying to shed the Cardigan Network image…”
A spokesperson from Nine told TV Tonight, “…programs are sometimes tweaked and edited prior to screening for a variety of reasons (eg: to meet time constraints). A few edits were made to what was on the preview disc of Perfect Couple.”
Some readers have also noted barely any inclusion of Robbie and Dan in on-air promos for the show. This week Nine has promos including senior couples talking about romance and marriage, despite the fact none appear in episode two. The show has taken some criticism for casting a predominantly youthful cast.
The excision of a same-sex kiss, which in this case was only a peck on the cheek, follows volatile headlines over a same-sex kiss on Home and Away this year, including claims it aired an edited version.
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- Tagged with Australia's Perfect Couple, Home and Away
44 Responses
I’m gay myself, and I couldn’t give two hoots….
I’m surprised so many of you are so “outraged” when i’m guessing most of you don’t even watch the show.
Does the hate only stem from the fact that it’s a Nine show?
“Dancing with the C-list” still has yet to have Two male dancers. And yet I haven’t written a letter………”So you think…..” has still not paired off two males….. I haven’t called the ACMA…….
Take a deep breathe, folks……it’s all fine.
(Love your work, David…. i’m sure you only post these types of topics because you enjoy the “outcry”…….)
This is blatantly homophobic. It was only a peck on the cheek ffs! WIN are so far back in time they don’t see we’re living in the 21st century now, and if they were worried about a backlash for showing the kisses, I think people would be angrier they didn’t show them.
Very sad to read… 🙁
Curiously I was engaged to answer some questions about perfect couple last week – did I know about the show, had I seen the ads, was I watching it, if not why not. I came away with the impression that 9 might be a wee bit worried about their new show.
Look, im sure there are way worse things happening in this world than an australian television network deciding not to air a gay kiss. In fact, I’m quite certain of that (war, poverty, racial oppression, murder… you get the point). For those that are disappointed that they are missing out on seeing this kiss, I’m pretty certain there are other ways, other shows, and other types of media to see one similar.
Channel Nine, this is part of society. You want to be part of television society, right? If so, stop making decisions that will only further undermine your dwindling audience.
if you got to youtube and type in “australias perfect couple 2” at about the 37 second mark you see the gay couple quickly kiss on the mouth.
a kiss on the cheek is not explicit regardless of the sex, and considering what ed of melbourne said about the hotdog ad there seems to be some inconsistency at nine.
im not gay, but like me and i think alot of other people have to problem at all with seeing 2 guys or girl kissing on tv at all, i don’t watch the show but if they cast to gay guys in a show and they show everyone else kissing i don’t see why it would harm anyone by seeing 2 guys kissing, do gay guys think the same about straight people kissing?, also david can anyone get preview disc of shows, where can i get them from?
@Glenn Petrie: just for the record, there was no gay kiss in Number 96. There were gay characters and relationships depicted over the show’s run (1972-77) but there was no kissing. Even in the more liberated movie version (1973), a scene featuring a kiss between two men was cut out.
Although “The Box” featured a kiss between two women when it started in 1974.
Shame they cut the boys kiss out but happy they gave them time to speak about the relationship and also about being parents.
I really liked this show and hope that the boys have more air time next Wednesday night.
Yeh cos gay (male) kissing is soooooo racey…. If people don’t like it, let them turn off or complain to ACMA or something (nothing happens anyway).
Remember when networks could get away with showing these types of scenes in shows such as “Number 96”? Not any more. This type of action by Channel Nine proves that TV networks are going backwards.
To think that this network used to screen Sex in the City. They probably would not dare to these day. I hope they don’t get True Blood cause it will probably get edit down to a 30 mins show.
While I agree that it would be fair to show the boys kissing if every other couple was shown, I think that some of the comments here are bit unwarranted. The tiny glimpse I caught of this show the other night had the boys talking about being in a long-term, stable relationship, the adoption of their daughter and how it completed their lives. They got stacks of air time to talk and at the end the other contestants supported their right to be married which our own government will not permit. It was an interesting and intelligent conversation. Surely this is more important than a kiss?
why have them on the show then. terrible to honest. they put them on so they looked like they werent discriminating against gay’s. now they do this. the show looked terrible and i give it 1 more week before it get’s the chop
@Marco:
More like side-stepping. 😛
I work for a shopping centre in which a poster for this show has advertising space. A couple of days ago, I had a customer make a formal complaint to me about the depiction of the gay men in the poster angrilly claiming “It’s not Gods way…” and “Unholy practises like that violate children” (not sure what she meant by that one).
She got very angry and I stood there and smiled and let her rant and complete a feedback form.
I didn’t tell her I was gay myself – Thanks for your Feedback! I simply passed it on to our marketting department and we all had a good laugh at her self righteous misinformation.
This is a disgrace. Cast a gay couple then cut up scenes which may be offensive. You are a joke channel 9!!!
So far TEN are the only commercial network who haven’t gotten cold feet with gay scenes in their shows… Kinda sad really. =/
well we know who won’t win this show….Robbie and Dan,My guess is they will be the first to be eliminated.
Nine you suck, I am so glad you aren’t doing any good these days with the way you treat the viewer. It’s just a bloody kiss and you are acting like a boof head run network. No sorry, you are a boof head run network !
Yet they air shows like Dance Your A off. Shows how backward 9 is. Please come into the 21st century, guys.
Come to think of it, didn’t we see the two boys kiss in the first series of the Block back in 2004? And that was on earlier on a Sunday.
1 step forward, 2 steps back.
9 is living in the dark ages. i dont watch 9 as coments from karl and that sports presenter on the today show in regards to same sex couples being allowed to attend a school formal last year. they are so homophobic it makes me sick. esp the sports presenter.