Eurovision compared to ‘gay porn film on steroids’ by pearl-clutching TV host
TV host Julia Hartley-Brewer has compared Eurovision to gay porn. (@talktv/ Instagram, Sarah Louise Bennett/ EBU)
TalkTV host Julia Hartley-Brewer has compared this year’s Eurovision Song Contest to a “gay porn film on steroids”.
In the past, Hartley-Brewer, has refused to use her guest’s correct pronouns live on air, suggested that the Taliban “know what a woman is”, and lashed out at the idea of gender-neutral changing rooms.
Speaking this morning (14 May) to conservative influencer Oli London, Hartley-Brewer, who has written columns for The Daily Telegraph and Mail on Sunday, described some of the performances during the final of Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest as over-sexualised.
“Apparently, it’s not Eurovision any more. It’s no longer a happy, fun, family viewing contest… now it’s basically a sadomasochist, gay porn film on steroids,” she claimed.
After introducing London, Hartley-Brewer said: “I am no Mary Whitehouse, I’m very liberal on an awful lot of these things, but I have to say I was really shocked by some of the performances, some of the outfits, the blatant, sort of, S&M bondage outfits that were on display, the cavorting on stage.
“And yes, I care about it, whether it’s straight or gay kind of porn,” she added before turning her sights on Years & Years frontman Alexander, who performed “Dizzy” at this year’s contest.
“Even our own entry, Olly Alexander, it was basically a load of gay sex acts in a public toilet.”
Alexander, who suffered “a slight” wardrobe malfunction during this year’s semi-finals, and failed to gain any points from the public vote in the final, previously told to Pink News and other media prior to the contest in Malmö, Sweden, that he expected his staging to prove divisive.
“I think if you’re going to take a song to Eurovision, the last thing you should do is be safe. As an artist, I love to provoke a little bit, just cause a little bit of discussion, intrigue,” he said.
“I said right [at] the beginning of this process, I plan to be as gay as possible – and what’s gayer than a locker room? I want mainly to entertain people and to give a really fab performance. Of course, not everyone’s gonna love it. But I think that’s a sign of a strong performance, really.”
The contest this year, which was won by non-binary entrant Nemo from Switzerland, was steeped in controversy because of Israel’s involvement despite the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Israel was not disqualified, but The Netherlands’ entrant Joost Klein was thrown out before the final after “a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident”.
