October 30, 2012 | Arts / Entertainment

Hard to be affectionate on reality show, says couple

One of the teams on CBS's The Amazing Race - yes, apparently it's still on the air -  is real life gay couple Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge.

The two are no strangers to reality TV. Their own show, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, appears on The Green Channel, and follows their life on a farm in upstate New York.

Fans have noticed, and complained, that they are much less affectionate on The Amazing Race than their other show.

They decided to set the record straight.

"Of the five legs shown thus far, four have been in Muslim countries and homosexuality is illegal in every country we'd visited or passed through," they explained. "Since we are guests in these countries, we chose to not embrace or kiss for practical and respectful reasons."

"We were literally relying on the kindness of strangers and cab drivers and challenging their beliefs would not have been strategically smart nor neighborly," they added. "To be completely fair, perhaps many of the great people we met along the way wouldn't have had any issues with our relationship. But unfortunately, we didn't have the time to get to know them better personally."

And it wouldn't help to get arrested while trying to win a race.

Gay couple competing on TV's Amazing Race on why they haven't been very affectionate [Gay Star News]