Former Sesame Street Writer Finally Reveals Bert And Ernie Are Gay

After years of speculation and theories surrounding the sexuality of Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie, one of the show's former writers has revealed that the pair are in fact gay. What a lovely, sunny day!

Sesame Street/PBS

The world's most beloved puppet pairing lived together on the kids' show, leading many to believe they were more than just friends.

This was confirmed by ex-writer Mark Saltzman in a recent interview with Queerty, where he said: "I remember one time that a column from The San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked 'Are Bert and Ernie lovers?'

"That coming from a preschooler was fun, and that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it."

Mark - who joined the Sesame Street writing team back in 1984 - went on to liken his relationship with editor Arnold Glassman to Bert and Ernie.

Sesame Street/PBS

He added: "I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were. I didn't have any other way to contextualize them. The other thing was, more than one person referred to Arnie and I as 'Bert and Ernie'."

So there you have it - Bert and Ernie are the lovers we'd always hoped they were. If only we could've celebrated this fact back in the 80s and 90s, but at least we can now. Although judging by the fact they slept in separate beds, the two either argued a lot or were simply a progressive couple who liked their own space. Let's at least pretend it was the latter.

This news has been a long time coming for the LGBTQ+ community who consider Bert and Ernie as gay icons. As reported by Pink News, when same-sex marriage was legalised in New York, fans set up a petition asking for the show's creators to have Bert and Ernie get married on screen.

The show released a response stating that the pair were simply "best friends" and that puppets do not have "sexual orientation", but this has all been changed by Mark's insights. And we're all suitably delighted.

Bert and Ernie - two perfect puppet peas in a pod.

Topics: TV and Film

Daisy Phillipson

Daisy is a UK-based freelance journalist with too many opinions. She loves everything film and music-related and has a track record writing for Little White Lies, BWRC, and Film Daily. Contact her at [email protected]