the dance

Alfons Haider, The Real Life Bruno, Will Twirl With a Man On Austria’s Dancing Stars

Alfons Haider, the gay Austrian actor and television reporter widely believed to be the basis for Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno character (that’s him in the pink in the video above), will appear on his country’s Dancing Stars competition … with a dude. Haider, who actually hosted the first three seasons of the show, will follow Israel’s Gili Shem Tov in dancing on-air with a same-sex partner. And like Shem Tov, he’s selected a breeder, Balázs Ekker, who’s appeared on all five seasons, as his dance mate. “I am going to dance with a heterosexual,” says the 33-year-old. “This is not about being gay. I do not want my appearance on the show to be reduced to homosexuality. This is about the show, about entertainment. I am not the gay Joan of Arc.” Now quick, somebody criticize his comment about how there’s no such thing as “reducing” something to its gayness!

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