Contestants from a ‘90s US game show, who at the time described themselves as “business partners”, are in fact a gay couple who are still together to this day. Tim Leach and Mark Dammann appeared on a 1991 episode of Lifetime’s Supermarket Sweep, a shopping-themed competition series where participants answered trivia questions for a chance to win trolleys full of free goods.
The revelation about the contestants’ relationship came after one X user, namely Tom Zohar, posted about the pair on social media. He noticed Leach and Dammann while rewatching old episodes of the show, and was suspicious about their status as “business partners” who “design sets for plays”.
“The host asked them what’s the weirdest set they’ve been asked to design and their whole lives flashed before their eyes trying to come up with a heterosexual answer,” Zohar joked.
I love watching old episodes of Supermarket Sweep because these two just said they’re “business partners” who “design sets for plays” and I’m like oh I’m sure pic.twitter.com/t359wSysYF
— Tom Zohar (@TomZohar) July 28, 2024
The tweets went viral, gaining over 125,000 likes, before an important update was issued on July 30.
Zohar shared a comment from Leach, who revealed that he and his business partner Dammann just celebrated their 41st anniversary as a couple. The pair married in 2008 “as soon as it was legal in California” and spent 27 years designing and painting backdrops for sets.
IMPORTANT UPDATE pic.twitter.com/Gosz7tUy9e
— Tom Zohar (@TomZohar) July 30, 2024
Leach also reacted to the viral X post, saying: “A friend shared that Mark and I had been made into a meme for our being on Supermarket Sweep decades ago and saying we were business partners. They began asking ‘where are they now’, so we posted an update.
“It has taken on a life of its own in the thread and comments. What a world!”
Supermarket Sweep ran for six years throughout the ‘90s, establishing itself as one of the US’ most popular game shows at that time. Tim and Mark did well on their episode but were beaten by a married couple, David and Paula, who went home with $1,264.
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