Long are the days since the “will they/won’t they” of Ross and Rachel. The royal couple of Harry and Meghan is already old news. Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin can’t even decide if they have or have not gotten married yet. Yet throughout all of these relationships only one has endured the testament of time. The relationship between Bert and Ernie. I know some of you are thinking “hey now, website contributor, Bert and Ernie are only roommates.” And before today we might have had to agree to disagree. But today…today that argument no longer holds water because there is proof that Bert and Ernie were conceptualized to be a gay couple!
Over the years, the iconic children’s show Sesame Street has used it’s platform to educate young minds on a variety of topics. Some of those topics have not been easy to cover, which is why the show has received great praise. The show has evolved along with it’s audience, leading the muppets to tackle difficult subjects such as autism, death and HIV. All of these strides have been great, but many of the fans of the show still had one burning question: What’s up with Bert And Ernie?!
While the Odd Couple-esque relationship of the two muppets has always been adorable but viewers can not help but wonder if their connection is based on more than just friendship. The seven-time Emmy Award winning Mark Saltzman sat down with Queerty to talk about his journey as a writer for the children’s show. While he spoke a lot about his tenure with the show, the one highlight that leapt off the page is his confirmation that Bert and Ernie are indeed a couple.
“I remember one time that a column from The San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked “are Bert & Ernie lovers?” And that, coming from a preschooler was fun. And that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it. And I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them.”
What more proof do you need! Love is love is love everyone…even if you are covered in muppet fur. I haven’t been this emotional since Kermit and Miss Piggy got married in Muppets Take Manhattan. If you want to check out the whole interview with Mark Saltzman click here. Check your local listings for episodes of Sesame Street.