Wed. February 9, 2005
After a single post appeared on an ABC message board suggesting that one of the Desperate Housewives stars was gay, rumors of a planned Advocate cover, a huge public outing and encouragement from co-stars to make an announcement followed.
All fingers pointed to Marcia Cross, who plays uptight, NRA card carrying homemaker Bree Van de Kamp on the popular series.
Now representatives for Cross have issued a statement to the press saying the rumors are “completely untrue” and Cross, appearing on the talk show The View as a guest co-host today, said she’s not sure how the rumors got started.
“I guess it just comes with being on TV, 42-years-old and not married,” Cross said to the ladies of The View, laughing. “But no, I’m not a lesbian.”
Quick with a comeback, co-host Joy Behar said: “So does that mean the thing between us together is off?”
Cross, who is a supporter of gay and lesbian rights and was a special guest at Out’s Hot 100 party last year, said on The View that the rumors didn’t bother her, but that they weren’t true and she wondered if there weren’t more important things to worry about.
GayWired reported yesterday that according to gay.com.uk, Cross had decided to come out after being urged by Housewives’ openly gay creator Marc Cherry to come forward. The report also suggested that Cross was in a long term relationship with another familiar TV face.
The ladies of The View took the rumor and ran with it, frequently alluding to it throughout the show.
When asked what character she originally wanted to be on Housewives, Cross answered “I wanted to be Mary Alice. I wouldn’t be seen, I could be messy and people probably wouldn’t talk about me being a lesbian.
Later, during the show’s Hot Topics segment, co-host Joy Behar asked guest Anthony LaPaglia if he was a lesbian.
“No,” he answered, “but I’ve been considering it.”
Rumors that a character on Housewives will come out on a future episode have yet to be confirmed but, according to Cross, it seems like something that would “shake things up on Wisteria Lane.”
Written By Ross von Metze
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