Thu. September 29, 2011
Los Angeles, CA -
Matt Siegal, a gay entrepreneur who starred in an episode of the hit TV show Millionaire Matchmaker, this week spoke out for the first time about his experiences with matchmaker Patti Stanger.
"There were a number of comments and crude sexual gestures that shocked me," said Siegal in a released statement. "She said that gay men only care about sex and aren't interested in monogamy."
Siegal's decision to talk about his experience follows Stranger's recent public apology for comments she made about gays and Jews.
"I decided not to speak out before because I knew that Patti would eventually out herself, so to speak. It was inevitable that she'd make similar comments again before cameras over which she didn't have editorial control," said Siegal.
In the episode titled "Cookies and Ice, and Everything Nice," Siegal's date threw a glass of ice water in his face during one of the scenes. The reference to cookies was because Siegal is the CEO of Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet.
Stanger took Siegal to a New York clothing store where she and a consultant picked out an outfit for him.
"The outfit they picked out for me was a plain t-shirt under a black leather biker jacket, blue denim jeans, and big black boots. I looked like the picture you'd expect to accompany the definition of the word 'gay' in an illustrated dictionary from the 1970's," said Siegal.
When Siegal arrived the next day for taping, Stanger "went berserk."
"She said that I looked like 'Liberace on steroids' and demanded to know why I wasn't wearing the outfit she'd picked out," said Siegal. "I told her that it was because it just wasn't me."
According to Siegal, who was offended by the Liberace comment, he called Stanger's comments "homophobic." His comments were edited out of the scene.
Later he called Stanger "homophobic" and "ageist" in a scene that was included in the episode.
Siegal said when he saw the episode first air in December 2010, he was disappointed with the message it sent.
"Gay people spent decades fighting for the right to be themselves, to openly express their individuality without being told by straight society what types of relationships, clothing, entertainment, and other matters of personal choice were normal," explained Siegal. "It seems to be a step backward having a heterosexual spinster telling a gay man that he won't find love unless he stops being himself and starts being who she says he should be."
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