US 'gay reality show' cancelled

Ex-Big Breakfast presenter Amanda Byram hosted the cancelled pilot

The Fox network has scrapped plans for a new reality TV show in which straight males compete for a $50,000 (£27,214) prize by pretending to be homosexual.

A spokeswoman said the two-hour special - called Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay - had been cancelled for "creative reasons".

The show had attracted criticism from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), who branded it an "exercise in systematic humiliation".

Former Big Breakfast host Amanda Byram had been lined up to front the show.

"Fox deserves a lot of credit for doing the right thing here," said GLAAD executive director Joan Garry.

"They offered us an advance copy of the show and were incredibly responsive to our grave concerns."

'Gay coaches'

According to promotional material for the show, the two contestants would immerse themselves in "the gay lifestyle" with the help of three "gay coaches".

"A jury of their queers" would then decide which of the two men was the most convincing homosexual.

"Creatively it was not where we felt it should be," said a Fox spokesman.

The same production team was responsible for another reality TV series entitled My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé.

US lifestyle show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has been a ratings success for the US Bravo cable network and UK pay-TV channel Living.