Susan Bower, producer from Neighbours has spoken with Digital Spy about the upcoming gay storyline for Neighbours. (James Mason) who portrays Chris Pappas will ‘pair up’ with Aidan (Bob Morley) – a first in Neighbours 26 year history. Here are some comments from Susan taken from the interview. |
| Chris Pappas |
…We will treat any romance homosexual or heterosexual in a sensitive G-rated way. It is obvious that at 6.30pm a gay romance is a sensitive issue and for some reason on television it is alright for girls to kiss and experiment with their sexuality but it’s not alright for boys. That is something we are aware of, as annoying or disappointing as it is. We will treat the romance within the character. Chris is a naturally shy person – he is not a person who either flaunts his sexuality or his heart. So it will be done according to that character. And it may not be a full-on relationship. The character that Bob is playing is older and further down the track with his relationship testing, so it will be a relationship story rather than a gay male romance…
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| Aidan Foster |
…We are batting down the hatches because already we have seen in the media letters from viewers and even non-viewers who are less than thrilled. It was incredible that one of the letters said that Bob’s character was a nurse and how cliché was that, however it is counterbalanced that the Chris character is a mechanic so some of them are knee-jerk. We’re not going to please everyone, that is impossible…
Don’t worry Susan, Home and Away, One Life To Live, As The World Turns and now Days of Our Lives have recently just ‘gone there’. A soap first. It only took 45 years to get there…