Oct 20, 2006  |  By: BRIAN MOYLAN  | COMMENTS     

HALLOWEEN IS APPROACHING and while everyone is thinking about ghouls, witches and black magic, maybe it’s time to think about the curse facing the gay contestants on reality television shows — gays are tanking across the networks.

The dark voodoo might have been put in place by reality television’s biggest gay ogre, Richard Hatch.

In 2000, Hatch won the first season of CBS’ top-10 staple, “Survivor,” which ushered in the era of competitive reality shows. Hatch may have cast the curse in January 2006 when he was found guilty of not paying his taxes. He’s currently serving a 51-month prison sentence.

This season has not been a pretty one for gay reality personalities. For example, take “Project Runway.” Gay designer Jay McCarroll won the first season of this Bravo hit and the second season, though won by straight Chloe Dao, had eight gay hopefuls out of 16, including two in the final three. This year, there were only four gay male contestants and none of them made it to the final four (one gay fashionista, Keith Michael, was ejected prematurely for having contraband fashion books in his room).

What are gay viewers to do if a friend of Dorothy can’t win “Runway?”


THINGS WEREN’T ANY better on CBS’ “The Amazing Race.” Gay couple Tom Rock and Terry Cosentino from New York were recently ejected from the show after a mishap harvesting pearls. Weeks earlier, Duke Marcoccio and his lesbian daughter Lauren came in last and were ejected from the race, though Duke became closer with his daughter, whom he didn’t talk to for a long time after she came out.

There are gay judges, stylists and Tyra Banks (who consistently looks like a drag queen) on the CW Network’s “America’s Next Top Model,” but Megan Morris, a lesbian contestant on the show, was kicked off after the second episode. There was hardly even time for her to come out on the program. At least she outed fellow contestant Michelle Babin (one of the twins) in interviews after she was booted off.

Speaking of out, CBS still maintains its policy of not discussing the sexual orientation of any of the castaways on “Survivor” unless it comes out on the show — a dubious policy considering it’s the same network that uses the drama of Duke and Lauren to help jack up ratings on “The Amazing Race.”

Despite the policy, we may have a member of our “tribe” to root for in Brad Virata, a former male model and current fashion director. Brad has kept a low profile on the show, but has done well in the group challenges. Aside from the vibe that sets off gaydar on the show, what we know about him from the “Survivor” web site is that he works for several AIDS charities, his favorite TV shows are “Will & Grace,” “Project Runway,” “Queer Eye” and “American Idol” and his favorite singers are Madonna, Mariah Carey and Kelly Clarkson.


IN A WORLD WHERE the number of gay characters on scripted shows never increases, it’s nice to have someone to root for and role models to be proud of when we turn on the tube. Sure, we may place a lot of pressure on people like Brad (if he turns out to be playing on our team), but after years of struggle it’s nice to think that we have a bit more fight in us.

And if Brad doesn’t make the cut, then it falls to Carlos Fernandez, the gay chef who will be competing on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” Either way, let’s hope someone breaks the Hatch curse this TV season.