But here's the juicy tidbit: turns out, behind the scenes, female contestants had to take a herpes test before they hit the stage. Yup, you heard it right. It was his way of ensuring he could go all-in on those kisses without worrying about catching anything. Talk about a behind-the-scenes game strategy!
From Calgary Herald:
According to a new book, Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars, the contestants allegedly had to take a herpes test during Dawson’s time as host from 1976-1985 and again in 1994-95, reported Entertainment Weekly.
“A contestant revealed that before her appearance, a Family Feud production assistant entered the dressing room with a magnifying glass and a cotton swab and said, ‘OK, everybody line up for your herpes test,’” it says in the book.
The test came because both viewers and doctors were concerned.
“One viewer complained, ‘Richard Dawson spreads more bugs every week than a flu epidemic,’” says the book.
Outrageous also recounts a letter sent by a doctor to Philadelphia Daily News: “The diseases that could be transmitted by promiscuous kissing are too long and too loathsome to recount here. Does Dawson or the producers take any caution to prevent infection?”
Dawson, who died in 2012 from esophageal cancer complications at the age of 79, told the Television Academy in 2010 that he started doing it to help calm contestants’ nerves, recalling a woman so nervous she couldn’t name a green vegetable.
