The Internet Is Going Wild for a Retro ‘Supermarket Sweep’ Couple Who Had To Hide Their Relationship
One great thing about modern streaming services is that you can watch game show classics like Supermarket Sweep as often as you’d like—and revel in all the excessively retro moments that come with them.
Earlier this week, Twitter/X user Tom Zohar, whose bio describes himself as “loud and Jewish and gay,” took a snapshot of two male contestants from a 1991 episode of the show and wrote, “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.”
Beneath that, he posted another shot, this time of the two men smiling, and wrote, “The host asked them what’s the weirdest set they’ve been asked to design and their whole lives flashed before their eyes trying to come up with a heterosexual answer.”
The post spurred people on to comment with their own memories of Supermarket Sweep, and that might have been that if the post hadn’t gone viral. But it ended up getting back to one of the men in the screenshot, Tim Leach, and he posted a very happy update on Facebook. He and his fellow contestant, Mark Dammann, very much had been a couple at the time of filming—and they still are.
Tim wrote along with a photo, “Here we are! Just celebrated our 41st anniversary. 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.” And thus the internet let out a collective “awww,” and celebrated the pair. It’s always nice when a new wholesome story comes along.
Tim and Mark have been enjoying their viral fame over the past few days. Tim even did an interview with People magazine where he commented on how things had improved for gay people since the ’90s. “A lot has changed since we were on that show as far as gay couples and being on TV and things like that,” Tim said. “So it’s not surprising that people have some interest in that and it’s been kind of fun, actually.”
Tim was also delighted that people were “touched by the story” of how the pair overcame the homophobia of the ’90s and lived happy lives together. “You tend to forget that being together for 41 years is kind of a big deal for anybody,” he said. A big win for the internet, too!
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