Loose Women hosts seem to forget bisexuality exists in debate about same-sex cheating
From L-R) Kaye Adams, Stacey Solomon, Nadia Sawalha and Jane Moore on Loose Women. (Screen capture via ITV)
In today’s edition of ‘People Forget Bisexuality Exists’, British talkshow Loose Women posed a question to its viewers: ‘Could you forgive your partner for cheating with someone of the same sex?’
The ITV morning talkshow put the spotlight on the topic following an episode of soap Coronation Street, which saw a female character cheat on her husband with a woman.
Hosts Kaye Adams, Stacey Solomon, Nadia Sawalha and Jane Moore hash out the question, discussing their own thoughts on the topic which has proved contentious for viewers and Twitter users, who slammed the show as “casually homophobic” and that the question’s wording erased bisexual folk.
Loose Women host Stacey Solomon would be more ‘understanding’ if husband cheated on her with a man.
In the soap, Tracy Barlow cheated on her husband, Steve, with a woman, an act that’s hooked the characters on the cobblestone streets and one that is about to be broken to her husband.
Media personality Solomon explained that she’d be less upset if husband Joe Swash slept with a man than with a woman, joking that she would rather he was “thinking of Dace instead of Victoria”.
Explaining that if Swash were to cheat with a woman it would make her feel “not good enough”, whereas if it were a man it would a “real reason, he cheated on me”.
She continued: “That he was gay, was hiding that, was suppressing himself for a really long time.”
Stacey Solomon said she would be more “understanding” of her husband if he cheated on her with a man. (Screen capture via ITV)
Solomon’s statement stunned her fellow panellists, however. Prompting journalist Moore to question: “If he cheated on you with another man, wouldn’t you then think that the whole time through your relationship, it had been a bit of a sham?
“That the whole time he was thinking of being with another man and not being with you?”
Solomon stressed the reality that people take time in understanding who they are – sexualities included – and that she would be understanding of that truth.
The hosts agreed that if their spouses did cheat on them with someone of the same sex the “relationship is over”, though, Adams suggested, if it were with an opposite sex partner “you might be able to say: ‘Let’s sit and talk about this.'”
She then added that both age and the length of the relationship are factors in deciding how flexible one can be about their partner cheating.
‘Listening to your discussion on this and just a gentle reminder that bisexuals exist.’
But viewers took to Twitter and couldn’t help but wonder something. They all shared a similar thought.
Of course, they said, many people attracted to those of the same sex as them do hide their sexualities. Some get hitched and have children, buy houses with white picket fences and spend decades raising their children all the while in the closet.
However, there must be a third option. Some sort of other possibility, that people can be, hear us out, attracted to more than one gender at the same time, or even not see gender at all and be attracted to the person themselves.
If only there was a term for such possibilities!
“Loose Women,” a user wrote, “literally forgetting bisexuality exists.”
Bisexuality. What a concept!
Users slammed the show for seemingly forgetting that sexualities other than heterosexual and homosexual exist as well as implying same-sex relationships “hold less wight” than mixed-sex ones.
https://twitter.com/rxbcxe/status/1215621197288951809
I don’t condone cheating at all & by posing this question the way you have, you are implying that same sex relationships hold less ‘weight’ than heterosexual ones. Feeding into the silly idea that ‘it’s just a phase’ and therefore forgivable because it was with the same sex!
— H (@nellylel) January 10, 2020
Stacey is so stupid just because a man sleeps with another man doesn’t mean he’s just gay he could bi and likes both #LooseWomen— Ashley (@bramwell_ashley) January 10, 2020
Listening to your discussion on this and just a gentle reminder that bisexuals exist.
— Caroline Moore (@carolinemooreuk) January 10, 2020
PinkNews has contacted ITV for comment.
