
Celebrity

Neal McDonough has spoken out and said that he was 'blacklisted' for his refusal to get intimate with any other actors while filming.
McDonough has been married to Ruvé Robertson since 2003.
The pair first met on the set of the Band of Brothers, and have five children together.
McDonough is a devout Catholic, and this is what he credits his refusal to kiss anyone else to.
“I won’t kiss any other woman because these lips are only for one woman," he said previously.
He explained that, in his beliefs, even kissing someone while acting would count as infidelity.
McDonough further explained to Closer Weekly that his beliefs haven't always worked hand and hand with his career.
In fact, he was even fired from his role in Scoundrels for his refusal to kiss anyone else.
"I was [surprised], and it was a horrible situation for me," he said.
“After that, I couldn’t get a job because everybody thought I was this religious zealot.
"I am very religious. I put God and family first, and me second. That’s what I live by. It was hard for a few years.”
Following this incident, the actor has made his position clear ahead of time.
Talking of being cast in Desperate Housewives, he said: "When Marc Cherry signed me, I told him, ’You probably already know this, but I won’t kiss anyone.’
“’But this is Desperate Housewives!’ Cherry said. I told him, ’I know.’ He waited for a few seconds and then responded, ’Okay, I’ll just have to write better.’”
He concluded: “I’m the luckiest guy I know to have her as my partner in everything after five kids and a great life.”
Speaking on the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, McDonough revealed that Hollywood turned on him for his stance.
“I’d always had in my contracts I wouldn’t kiss another woman on screen,” he told the podcast last year. “My wife didn’t have any problem with it. It was me, really, who had a problem with it.”
“When I couldn’t do it, and they couldn’t understand it, Hollywood just completely turned on me. They wouldn’t let me be part of the show anymore.”
“For two years, I couldn’t get a job and I lost everything you could possibly imagine,” he continued.
“Not just houses and material things, but your swagger, your cool, who you are, your identity—everything. My identity was an actor, and a really good one. And once you don’t have that identity, you’re kind of lost in a tailspin.”
Explore more on these topics:
Share
9th February 2026
03:01pm GMT