Family Feud Host Richard Dawson ALLEGEDLY Made Women Contestants Take Herpes Tests Pre-Show So He Could Safely Kiss Them On The Mouth

John Rich11/30/2023 12:30 AM

For those who aren't Family Feud aficionados like myself, you should know that the original, and greatest host who's name doesn't rhyme with Cleve Smarvey is Richard Dawson. Richard Dawson's claim to fame as host was kissing every woman on the show in the mouth, whether they liked it or not.

Ok maybe that's not fair. All of the women in that highlight reel seemed to welcome Richard's lips with their lips. I mean... idk if they really had a choice... Or did everyone just know if you're a woman on Family Feud, then you're gonna have to give Richard a peck before before guessing "what 100 people said they most associate with being sick". But I guess it was a different time.

But here's a new fun fact that even long time Family Feud fans like myself didn't know.

NY Post - “Family Feud” contestants allegedly had to take herpes tests during former host Richard Dawson’s reign. The comedian — who died at 79 in 2012 — had a knack for kissing female players on the mouth during the show’s episodes. And in order to keep everyone sanitary, tests for the oral sores went down on set, according to the new book “Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars.”

"Hello strange women. Welcome to 1970's Family Feud. As you all know, you'll be kissing our host Richard on the lips this afternoon. So before we get going, I'll be holding up a magnifying glass to your lips to make sure you don't have gross herpes mouth."

What do you think happened if they did have herpes mouth? Did Richard Dawson just not refuse to kiss them? Or did they force the family to sub in an alternate, herpes-fee woman? Is there a handful of contestants out there who Richard Dawson deemed "too herpes" for him to kiss? So theoretically, could you go back and watch old Family Feud episodes to find contestants who Richard skipped over, and then we'd know that they had herpes? Is that what used to happen?

I always have wondered what Richard Dawson's mindset was going into a taping of Family Feud. Like if you put his mind on this spectrum before every show, where would he fall?

Gun to my head, I really think he falls on the right side of the spectrum. It's easy to make the joke that Richard Dawson was just a horny old man who wanted to kiss as many women as possible, but I don't think that's where his head was at. I think he thought so highly of himself that in his mind "it was an honor" to be able to kiss him. And if he didn't kiss every woman on the show, they would be soooo incredibly disappointed. Which I guess is probably true. But did the women want to kiss him because they loved Richard Dawson so much, or did they want to kiss him because for peer pressure reasons. He kissed everyone before them, so it would be embarrassing if they didn't get a kiss themselves.

But this was all a long time ago. We've come a long way as a society. No longer are we forcing women to kiss our male gameshow hosts. Nowadays we have much more progressive gameshow hosts like Steve Harvey