Neighbours boss 'proud' of gay kiss

Susan Bower, executive producer of Neighbours, has stated she is “proud” of the Australian soaps forthcoming gay kiss.

The gay kiss between Chris Pappas (James Mason) and Adan Foster (Bob Morley) will be the first time Neighbours has featured a male gay kiss in its twenty six year history. The soap has previously featured a lesbian kiss – between Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh) and Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) in 2004 which prompted considerable backlash from more conservative quarters in Australia.

Susan Bower has stated that she is proud of how Neighbours has handled the gay kiss this time around. Bower told the Herald Sun ‘It’s not sensationalist or token – we are very proud of the way we have done this.’ The character of Chris Pappas was first introduced in 2010 and was the first regular gay male character to feature in Neighbours. His introduction to the soap was praised by the gay press and the wider press as well and it was only a matter of time before a gay romance was introduced – however, producers have taken steps towards such an end slowly.

Actor Bob Morley had previously discussed the kiss between his character of Adan and Chris. The gay kiss scenes will air in Australia this month but UK viewers will have to wait slightly longer as they will not air until May on Channel Five.