How ‘mixed-weight’ relationships have been on our screens long before Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton… but sexist norms meant nobody made a fuss when the woman was slimmer than her partner ‘Mixed-weight’ relationships feature in The Simpsons and The Holiday
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By Eleanor Dye
Published: 14:41 BST, 3 July 2024 | Updated: 14:42 BST, 3 July 2024
From willowy Marge Simpson and her doughnut-loving husband Homer to beloved TV dad Phil and his wife Vivian in Fresh Prince of Bel Air, ‘mixed-weight’ couples on screen are such an integral part of popular culture, they’ve barely merited comment. So it’s not wonder business magazine Forbes has sparked fury with an opinion piece about Nicola Coughlan’s on-screen romance with Luke Newton in Bridgerton, saying the world ‘is still not ready’ to see people of differing body types in racy scenes on screen. The piece, which was written by Virgie Tovar, a ‘leading expert on weight bias’, has caused a furious backlash for its analysis of Lady Penelope’s relationship with Colin Bridgerton. One user noted on social media: ‘Aside from how ridiculous this whole headline is let’s just remember that ‘mixed weight relationships’ have been very common on TV with one significant difference than the one noted here like it’s literally a sitcom trope.’
Though Bridgerton may have opened up a new perspective to the conversation, so-called ‘mixed-weight relationships’ have featured on screens for many years. Many iconic TV couples – including Homer and Marge Simpson, Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian in the Fresh Prince and Lois and Peter in Family Guy – have weight differences.
Forbes received backlash following an opinion piece discussing the ‘mixed-weight’ relationship between Penelope and Colin Bridgerton in the hit Netflix show ‘Mixed-weight’ relationships are certainly not a new thing, but historically the ‘larger’ person has been male instead of female. Only now that the larger character is female has a label been put on the ‘trope’, even though Penelope’s weight doesn’t feature as a major part of the storyline (instead she is depicted as a witty and clever writer with an observant eye for society’s gossip). While Penelope’s body type has prompted much debate, when the man is larger he is tended to be viewed as a source of comedy – and this is accepted by society.
Body positivity and mindset champion Danielle Broadbent told FEMAIL that the ‘ridiculous double standards’ in film and TV mean that ‘sexism’ and ‘sizeism’ are huge issues in the industry. She said: ‘Mixed weight relationships are nothing new, in fact, they have been around and dominating our screens for years but it seems to be always the woman who has to be slim – we seem to have a real issue here with not only sexism but sizeism. ‘No one at all seems to have an issue when it’s the man who isn’t rocking a six pack.’ She added that when the man is ‘heavier’ than the woman, it is seen as ‘acceptable and realistic’, but the reverse is still viewed as ‘unrealistic and implausible’. Danielle said: ‘Our society has had it drilled into them that to be classed as a beautiful woman you must fit a certain body type – which sadly isn’t the one of Penelope. ‘How can the audience be expected to believe that the perfect, dashing, wealthy and very charming Colin Bridgerton would be attracted to plus size Penelope?’
Here, FEMAIL explores all the famous couples where the man is of a bigger size.
Jack Black and Kate Winslet in The Holiday (2006)
Iris (Kate Winslet) and Miles (Jack Black) in The Holiday, who fall in love after a house swap Classic Christmas film The Holiday has a double plot line with two love stories after Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) initiate a ‘house swap’ for the holidays. Amanda, who moves to Iris’s isolated cottage in England, soon falls in love with her brother Graham, played by Jude Law. Meanwhile Iris exchanges her dreary life in England for a busy luxurious one in Los Angeles, meeting Miles (Jack Black). While reception to the film has tended to focus on Jude Law’s dashing good looks, people have still gushed over the love story between Miles and Iris. It is a prime example of the male character being the larger of the two, but criticism has focused on their sweet relationship rather than making comments on
