Neighbours is set to have its first gay wedding
Their wedding looks like it’s going to be incredible (Neighbours)
Neighbours will hold its first ever same-sex wedding.
The soap is in a race to become the first programme on Australian TV to show a same-sex couple tying the knot, but will take a big step towards that landmark this week.
On May 18, the country’s longest-running drama – which has been on our screens for 33 years – will feature a gay proposal.
(Fremantle)
And it sounds like it’ll be adorable, as long-term partners Aaron Brennan and David Tanaka both go to the beach with the intention of popping the question to each other.
Matt Wilson, who plays Aaron, said it was a step he had wanted the show to make ever since Australia’s Parliament legalised same-sex marriage in December, following an overwhelming win for the ‘Yes’ side in the country’s postal vote.
“The general consensus from everyone in my groups is that Australia is so far behind and it was almost embarrassing,” Wilson told the Press Association.
(Scott Barbour/Getty)
“So the fact that it happened and Aaron and David are at that stage in their relationship where they are going to get married, we may be the first gay couple to get married on Australian television since it’s become legal.”
And Wilson said that as far as he was concerned, it was about time.
“I keep saying to them, we have got to get this done, if Home And Away comes and does it before us, if some other show does it before us, we’re stuffed,” he said.
“We’ve got to win the race.
(Fremantle)
“No matter what, it’s going to be special but being the first ones to do it, that just makes it even bigger.”
Wilson continued: “I want it all. I’ve been trying to get this wedding to happen for some time now.
“I remember going into the writing department and I will just go ‘Aaron and David, getting married’ and I think I started throwing that out about a year ago or even more.
“I feel like I’ve got a lot of ownership over this, so I want it to be perfect. I’m starting to feel like a bit of a groomzilla,” he added.
(Fremantle)
“I hope they make it big, I want it colourful, I want old cast to come back for it, I don’t know if that is possible, I want it to be the wedding of the year.”
He said the relationship had a “huge” significance in Australia, explaining: “We get messages through Twitter and Instagram and the rest from people who are so happy that Aaron and David are a couple on television because it gives them more confidence in their lives.
“We’ve had people thank us for giving them the ability to come out and I don’t know what I did, I just read the words on the paper really, but when you realise the impact that it actually has, it’s the biggest heart-warming feeling that you could get.”
(Fremantle)
And he promised that Friday’s proposal would be “a really special scene,” adding that it took place “down by the beach in Australia, which was meant to be sunny but it was bloody freezing.
“Usually we do a lot of filming on the sets we already have but this one we actually drove about an hour away from the studios to the beach and filmed four or fives scenes for the proposal.
“We were in public and people were walking past and they were saying ‘what are you filming?’
“This isn’t just a normal scene, this is a massive scene, this is the biggest scene for Aaron and David to date and we did it in public.
(Fremantle)
“Over the episodes leading up to it, the ball starts to drop for Aaron, he starts to notice David is the one for him, he’s perfect, he’s everything he ever wanted,” added Wilson.
“For Aaron, it’s a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but there is a little twist. I think David has been planning to do this for some time.”
In March, the show received praise for its portrayal of a gay sex scene involving Tanaka’s character.
(Fremantle)
Rafael – played by ex-Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas – explored his sexuality after coming out, by getting intimate with Tanaka’s David for the first time.
Fans loved the explicitly sexual nature of the scene, and also heaped praise on the show for the sensitive way the men treated each other.
