Gay Supermarket Sweep ‘business partners’ respond to going viral 30 years later
Tim Leach and Mark Dammann appeared on Supermarket Sweep in 1991. (Lifetime/PAX/Al Howard Productions)
A gay couple have shared their reaction after a post showing them appearing on legendary game show Supermarket Sweep went viral on social media.
Over Sunday (28 July), X/Twitter user Tom Zohar posted a screen grab of two men, Tim Leach and Mark Dammann, who appeared on the US version of TV show in 1991.
“I love watching old episodes of Supermarket Sweep because these two just said they’re ‘business partners’ who ‘design sets for plays’ and I’m like: ‘Oh, I’m sure’,” Zohar wrote, suggesting that the pair were romantically involved.
Zohar’s find prompted other fans of the show to – as former host David Ruprecht would say – go wild, leading to the post garnering 4.5 million views.
He followed up the original post by joking: “The host asked them what’s the weirdest set they’d been asked to design and their whole lives flashed before their eyes trying to come up with a heterosexual answer.”
Meme pages swiftly began sharing Zohar’s remarks on other social media sites, with even PinkNews’ own social media team sharing the joke on our Facebook page.
Among those to see the interaction were none other than Tim and Mark themselves.
Tim confirmed what social media users suspected: he and Mark are – and always have been – far more than business partners.
“Just celebrated our 41st anniversary,” Tim wrote, to the sound of internet gays everywhere cheering.
“Married in 2008 on our 25th anniversary as soon as it was legal in California. We ran a business together designing and painting backdrops and sets for 27 years.”
Reflecting on the couple’s new-found fame, Tim added: “It has taken on a life of its own in the thread and comments. What a world.”
Supermarket Sweep was a popular gameshow on both sides of the pond in the 90s. In the UK, it was hosted by gay TV legend Dale Winton, before Rylan Clark took over briefly when it was rebooted in 2019.
Couples who appeared on the show tried to answer questions to take part in “mini sweeps” across the supermarket and accumulate time on their clocks, before they engaged in a final “big sweep” to try to rack up the highest bill on items in their shopping trolley.
Then, they’d take home however much money the trolley-full was worth.
As a Supermarket Sweep duo, Tim and Mark did fairly well, but lost to another couple, David and Paula, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Not that they mind too much now, we imagine – being remembered for a game show appearance more than 30 years ago is a far cooler achievement.
Tim and Mark’s episode is available to stream on Tubi in the US.
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