The educational organisation behind Sesame Street has denied Bert and Ernie are a gay couple after a writer for the show revealed that’s how he envisioned them when writing their parts. 

In an interview with Queerty, Mark Saltzman discussed how he “contextualised them” as lovers and that he and his partner Arnie were sometimes referred to by the same names.

He said:

 “I remember one time that a column from The San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked ‘Are Bert & Ernie lovers?’ And that, coming from a preschooler was fun. And that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it.

“And I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were. I didn’t have any other way to contextualise them.

“The other thing was, more than one person referred to Arnie & I as “Bert & Ernie.”

The interview prompted a flurry of coverage of the apparent confirmation but it was quickly shot down.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the Sesame Workshop said: “As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.

“Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets do), they remain puppets and do not have a sexual orientation.”

A number of fans expressed their disappointment on Twitter. Writer Charlotte Clymer suggested the assertion they possess “possess many human traits and characteristics” was wide of the mark.

Another fan, Skylar Baker-Jordan, simply expressed how heartbroken he was at the news.

It was also noted that other characters definitely do appear to have a sexual orientation. 

Speculation over Bert and Ernie’s relationship has been around almost as long as the show itself, which first aired in 1969.

The pair share a basement flat but sleep in separate bedrooms.