"Big Mistakes," Episode 1.6: Nicky comes out, his mom punches a guy, and his sister hates her boyfriend. Confused? Will Armenian cocks help?

 

I reviewed Big Mistakes Episode 1.1, with Dan Levy as closeted gay minister  Nicky, and gave it a B. Coming from an evangelical background, the idea of joining a homophobic church -- as a minister -- just didn't ring true, and Nicky was rather disagreeable.  To say nothing of his crazy sister.  

 But in Episode 1.6, Nicky grows a pair and "comes clean about his relationship" with boyfriend Tareq.  Plus the cast list includes a drag queen and some Eastern European bodybuilders.  

The Premise: After a debacle involving a stolen necklace, closeted minister Nicky and his crazy sister are forced to work for drug trafficking kingpin Ivan (Mark Ivanir).

Scene 1:  As they are making breakfast, Sister Morgan breaks the news that Yusuf, Kingpin Ivan's right-hand man, has vanished.  He left the keys to the truck and the barn where they stash stuff, so it sounds like he's quitting.   She notes that he was upset over his girlfriend back in Istanbul, so maybe he left to visit her.

"But we're in the middle of a major drug deal!" Kingpin Ivan screams.  "Andrei, go find him!"  Andrei appears in his undershirt, as if he's just awakened.  He must be Ivan's boyfriend.

As Andrei leaves, Kingpin Ivan tells the siblings that they'll have to go to Miami in Yusuf's place, to meet with the Brazilian drug cartel.  Nicky tries to refuse, but you don't refuse Kingpins.

Well, maybe you do.  They walk out.  Kingpin Ivan pulls a gun, but can't bring himself to shoot them -- he thinks of them as his good friends.

In the car, Nicky yells at Sister Morgan for ruining everything, and tells her to stay away from him from now on.

Scene 2: Nicky awakens in bed next to Boyfriend Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez).  Why is there a painting of a Catholic angel in a Protestant minister's bedroom?

 Nicky has made a decision: since Out and Loud  is recognizing Tareq for his contribution to the LGBTQ community, it's not fair to force him to be in a closeted relationship.  So Nicky will  come out to the congregation, and they can go to the gala together.

When Tareq heads out to the kitchen, Parishioner Rose is there for some reason.  She screams about an "intruder!" I guess you've been outed, buddy."  

Meanwhile, Sister Morgan listens to a podcast about positive affirmations.  Suddenly she hears gunfire, and drops to the floor.  It's just her boyfriend playing a video game!  She reflects on how much she hates him.

Scene 3:  The siblings' Mom and her assistant are working on her mayoral campaign, Nicky drops by to come out. "I met someone.  Rose caught us this morning, so I'm leaving the church.  Also, I'm going be his date for a gala today, so I'll be late to your fundraising barbecue."

Hey, he was already out to Mom. That's cheating!

She wants to know who the boyfriend is, and upon hearing his name, bursts into laughter. "Tareq?  My Tareq? You have got to be kidding me."  I don't know what that means.

She tells Nicky that Tareq wil get the family discount at the store, then dismisses him to work on her campaign.

Scene 4: Some drug dudes are playing poker and talking about how we should tip flight attendants. Kingpin Ivan and Andrei deliver their money.   They try to dismiss him, but he asks for permission to close the store for a few days, to drive Andrei to Florida to visit his mother. Actually, they need to finish the drug deal that Assistant Yusuf started.

"Are you boyfriends?"  I was thinking the same thing.

"No, we're cousins."  Darn.

"Our boss won't like it if you take off for a vacation in the middle of drug season."  I thought the Kingpin was in charge of the drug-trafficking organization, but he appears to be third in the hierarchy (the head of the operation will come as a big reveal in the las episode).  

Scene 5:  Sister Morgan and her Boyfriend (Jack Innanen, butt left) appear at a baby shower, and complain about everything being pink.  Rather gender-polarized.  They play a game called Dirty Diapers, which is as disgusting as it sounds.  Next they discuss potty training, with pictures.    

All the discussion of babies and poop upsets Morgan, so she insists that they leave.  Um...you didn't expect to hear about babies at a baby shower?

More after the break

Brock Cock, Part 1: From the God Squad to the Immortal Kane, with bonus Daryl McCormack and James Duval

 

Everybody needs a little Brock O'Hurn now and then.  At least his 1.7 million instagram followers think so.  Brock has played any number of muscle-hunks, including Hulk Hogan, Thor, Tarzan, a "swole Mel Brooks," and guys named Horse and Ragnar Stormbringer.  

He may be most famous as  Torsten, the "gentle giant" of the God Squad, a homoerotic muscle commune, in Season 2 of The Righteous Gemstones.  Presumably Adam Devine isn't in character here, or he'd be much more interested in the muscles pressing against him.

Here Brock is a shirtless cowboy in the video Wild West Showdown.  

Brock is a co-creator and model for Kane Comic Universe about an immortal muscleman who travels through time, fighting demons, evil gods, madmen, and so on. Warning: Issue #2 features women's boobs rather than Brock pecs.

I promised Brock cock, but actually, he has only one nude scene on tv, in Euphoria, which I post in Brock Cock Part 2.   I just like saying "Brock cock."

But to fill my cock quota, here's Irish actor Daryl McCormack.

More Brock and cock after the break

20 musclemen who guided me through the Age of Innocence, from Bomba the Jungle Boy to the American Psycho

 This is a nostalgic journey through the musclemen who gave me my first hints that same-sex desire existed, and guided me from junior high through college and to West Hollywood. They provided a joy that transcended aesthetic pleasure, telling gay kids that we belonged.  We were welcome. 

Everyman, I will go with thee and be thy guide.

In your most need I'll be by your side.

1. Johnny Sheffield played Bomba the Jungle Boy on Tarzan Theater every Saturday afternoon when there wasn't a game.  I never actually made it through a whole movie -- they were dreadfully heterosexist.  But there was always time for those gleaming black-and-white muscles, especially when he was tied up.

2. Bruce Lee.  He died in 1973, but his movies were playing constantly on Kung Fu Theater, and everybody's older brother had his beefcake poster on his bedroom wall.

3. Michael Forest played a god of masculine beauty (literally the God Apollo) on an episode of Star Trek which I saw sometime in the 1970s.

4. Denny Miller. Moments of gay promise as a surfer and a jungle man on Gilligan's Island.

5, David Naughton.  The cutest guy of the Disco Era showed us his dick and butt in in American Werewolf in London (1981).  Plus he also gave us a strong gay subtext in spite of the 1980s homophobia.

6. Yukio Mishima.  It wasn't hard to find gay-themed books in the early 1980s.  Just look for "evil" or "hidden" in the title.  So I found Confessions of a Mask, with Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima's obsession with male muscles, sex, and death.  

7. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The 1980s start and end with Arnold, who single-handedly brought bodybuilding into the mainstream and made it respectable.

8.  Sylvester Stallone gave him a little help with his grunting, sweat-soaked Rambo and Rocky.  We saw his dick in The Italian Stallion, a recast of his early porn movie.  

9. John Amos.  Gordy the Weatherman on Mary Tyler Moore, a warrior in a Conan rip-off that we all saw, and my gym buddy.

10. Lou Ferrigno, who played a muscular green Hulk against Bill Bixby's David Banner, dropped by often when I was working at Muscle & Fitness.  Did I mention our hookup?

More after the break

18 civilian bodybuilders and musclemen, from the Scharf Brothers to the "beautiful boyfriend" from Bühl

 I usually profile actors in television and movies, but sometimes a civilian -- a non-actor -- is too hot to pass up.  They may be bodybuilders, musicians, sports figures, reality tv stars, or just muscular guys with cute faces and impressive cocks.  If they're not celebrities, I use a pseudonym to protect their privacy.

Here are my 18 favorites to date:

1. Manny and Gavin Scharf: Gay-coded Wisconsin brothers, a wrestler and a bodybuilder, aren't into girls, until.... With some d*ck pics

2. Joe Gaydar breaks unwritten gym rules, some involving penises and bondage

3. Ilia Bolshaya: Collegiate swimmer with a 3.97 GPA and a huge sausage. With nude swimmers and why gay men don't major in science

5. Kobey Pinnell: Bondi Beach bodybuilder is into shoes, but is he also into dudes?

6. Helmut Riedmeier, German bodybuilder of the 1960s generation who didn't mind posing nude

6. Dane G.  His 365 day Lake Tahoe Challenge. With Scott Gaffney, Danish dicks, and nude guys at Notre Dame

7. Jack Barlow: Real Housewives teen, Mormon missionary, hair-care guru, gay tease. With nude and bondage photos.  Reality shows don't count, right?

8. Joe Canoli's canoli: frontal nudity and erotic promise from the groovy 1960s

More after the break.  Caution: Explicit.

Nathaniel Bacon: Canadian muscleman plays classic gay characters, but is he gay in real life? With three cock shots, Christmas, and Charlie Brown

 

My "Profiles to Do" collection has a folder entitled "Nathaniel Bacon," compiled on December 25th of last year: a day that I generally devote to celebrating the end of the dark melancholic Holiday Season and those depressing Holiday songs, especially Judy Garland's "Haaaaaaave youuuuurself..."  

Nathaniel Bacon must have been special to warrant starting a folder on that auspicious day, but it contains only six photos: three nude, two muscle, and one indicating that he's a fan of The Golden Girls (and Friday the 13th).

I'll check his Instagram for more photos before committing to a profile.

And maybe some that I can post on the G-rated, censor-happy site.

Not much luck in that department: Nathaniel is wearing underwear that shows everything in almost all of his Instagram photos.  Maybe he can't help it.  Even extra-large is too small for him.

I found one where he's displaying his butt, not his bulge.  Does that count?

Finally, a G-rate photo.  He's with a lady, but that can't be helped.  When he's not bulging, he's hugging, frolicking with, or dining with a lady (or two or three). I'm going to peg Bacon Boy as straight.  

His tagline tells us that he's a tv/stage/film actor and singer, Broadway World Toronto Award Winner, and ACTRA Award Nominee, so let's check out his plays.  Maybe some have gay content.

Cabaret: A muscle guy.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Rocky, of course.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch: um...he played Hedwig? 

Fade to Black:  The "young, gay fan" of a movie legend.

Wait....

Mike and Aaron Write a Musical:  Mike, in an "enchanting gay love story."

That's a lot of gay content, Bacon Boy.  Are you sure that you're straight?  Maybe you're hugging, dining with, and cuddling in hot tubs with platonic pals, or your sister? 

Nathaniel's on screen work and more of his cock after the break.  Caution: Explicit.

Adam Basil: Bodybuilder, gay pirate, gay-subtext creature, gay-icon zombie. Are you getting the idea? With his mushroom, nude Spartacus and Sherlock Holmes

  

In the original stories, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes shows no interest in women and a lot of interest in his "roommate," Dr. Watson.  But most film and tv versions aggressively heterosexualize the guys, sometimes with queerbaiting first.  So I had no faith in the new Amazon Prime series Young Sherlock Holmes. 

With good reason: he meets the Girl of His Dreams almost instantly.  Plus the reviews say that he's nothing like the traditional Sherlock; he's a gormless, idiotic, girl-chasing rapscallion.

Left: The rapscallion's rear.

But there was something of definite interest in the first scene: Mycroft Holmes goes to Newgate Prison to spring his wastrel brother (set up for pickpocketing, although he always returned the wallets after swiping them), and finds him at fisticuffs with the shirtless muscleman Barney (Adam Basil, top photo).  

Pecs, abs, biceps...dude, you're breath-taking.  Why have I never seen you in anything before?

Turns out that I've seen him in a lot of things, but he's playing characters named The Beast, The Butcher, and The Demon, under heavy stage makeup, so you can't really see his face.  Or physique.

Pity.

I didn't find a lot of biographical information, just what is listed on the IMDB: Adam grew up in the east of England, studied acting, and performed traditional British theater.  His "unusually high levels of athleticism" (meaning his muscles?) led him to creature work.

After a few small roles, Adam became Disney-famous for the live action version of Beauty and the Beast (2017) -- as the Beast, before the spell is broken and he turns into Dan Stevens.

Disney today, Marvel tomorrow: in 2021, he starred in Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage as the sarcastic, gay-coded symbiote who shares the body of journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). Shares the body?  Tell me more.

Left: Tom's dick.

But it was his role as The Bloater in The Last of Us (2023) that sealed Adam's popularity with gay fans.  

Wait -- The Last of Us is about a zombie Apocalypse caused by a mutated wheat fungus.   The Bloater is completely covered with fungal pustules, which act like iron plates, making him impervious to bullets -- and giving him super-strength, so he rips people's heads off their bodies, like the zombie Samson in 28 Years Later.  

They also make him so disgusting that I had to avert my eyes whenever he appeared.  How does a being like that gain gay fans?

But in interviews in Out and The Pink News, Adam states that the Bloater has become a sex symbol in the gay community.  He gets erotic DMs that call him Big Daddy Mushroom.

Are you sure that they are referring to the Bloater, and not your mushroom...

More after the break

Manny and Gavin Scharf: Gay-coded Wisconsin brothers, a wrestler and a bodybuilder, aren't into girls, until.... With some d*ck pics

 

Several years ago, I became a friend of Gavin on Facebook and some other social media sites.  He was a college wrestler from Wisconsin, about 200 miles away from my college town.

I don't give the real last name of non-celebrities, so I'll call him Scharf, "Sharp," German slang for "Hunky."  For obvious reasons.

He never mentioned girls, but he mentioned other boys quite often.  And he posted n*de photos.  I figured that he was gay, but not quite ready to come out yet.

His younger brother Manny was quiet, artistic -- also gay-coded.  

Apparently Manny was feeling left out, with two wrestler brothers and a sister who was a gymnast. At age 14 he joined the wrestling team, then began bodybuilding combined with intermittent fasting.  Strength training is fine for teenagers, but they are generally discouraged from bodybuilding until their bone structure is fully developed, and their body fat should not drop below 6-10%.  

 Manny shredded down to 3%, then down to an unhealthy and unattractive 1%.  Soon he was competing in venues like the Brew City Classic in Waukesha, and was the the subject of adulating video and articles "Insane 16 year old bodybuilder!"; "The Wonderkid Bodybuilder"! 

More after the break

"Hollyoakes" tackles trans bullying, with teen bodybuilder and ant Dan Hough as the bully. Plus bonus n*de twinks

 

In the spring of 2024, the British soap Hollyoakes featured a storyline where Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) and his estranged wife Diane discover that 14 years ago a drunken midwife switched the babies, so their biological child was raised by someone else, who has since died, so.....welcome to the family, Rose! 

Rose was played by Ava Webster, but after he comes out as transgender and changes his name to Ro, the part was taken over by trans actor Leo Cole, seen here with his recast siblings, Brook Debbio and Alex Fletcher. 

Tony already had a gay son who was murdered, a daughter who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and a daughter by the wife of his kidnapped best friend, who was then murdered.  Diane had an affair with Tony's father while he was kidnapped, was a murder suspect, and saw her "we were on a break" boyfriend murderd. So a son who was transitioning?  Not a problem.

Tony's girlfriend Marie and her two adult sons were perfectly accepting of the new member of their family, but not her youngest son, Arlo (Dan Hough).  

Dan Hough began to play Arlo in March 2024, and spent his first season in a standard soap opera plotline (for Hollyoakes), being kidnapped by his half-brother (Tyler Conti), re-kidnapped by his Dad (Andrew Dowbiggin, left), re-kidnapped again, sedated,  murdered (and in a big reveal, found to be alive after all), and returned to his Mother.   His next season involved bullying.

He grew jealous when Ro befriended a girl he liked.  He tried to force Ro to do his homework, and when his future stepbrother refused, attacked.  Ro pulled a knife to defend himself, but accidentally stabbed his deaf friend Oscar, leading to his arrest. 

Arlo began a course of violent attacks, transphobic insults, and cyberbullying, with suggestions that he self-harm-- while being perfectly polite around the parents. This causes Ro to fall into a deep depression, drink heavily, skip classes, and stay away from social events.

Hollyoakes changed its logo to the colors of the Trans Pride Flag for episodes that aired during Britain's Mental Health Awareness Week, 12-18 May, 2025.  An online friend suggested that Ro join a trans youth support group.  He set out, but changed his mind and announced that he was going to end his life.  After some searches by his frantic parents and Marie and audience suspense, he turned out to be fine: he called the real-life National LGBTQ+ Helpline  (with the number displayed at the end of the episode),  talked to a trans counselor,  and wants to go on living.

Not coincidentally, the episode aired shortly after Britain's Supreme Court determined that the 2010 Equality Act did not apply to trans people, and the Health Secretary announced a ban on puberty blockers for trans youth under age 18.  Trans rights are under attack in Britain nearly as virulently as in the U.S.

What about Arlo?  When his role in the bullying came out, Mom Marie interrogated him.  He claimed that he didn't hate trans people, he was retaliating for Dad Tony's abuse.  That turned out to be a lie, so he admitted that he hated Ro because "he has everything, and I have nothing."  . 

This was Arlo's last appearance on Hollyoaks, but Ro is a continuing character.   

I wanted to researched these boys who have had such a positive impact on LGBT youth in Britain. There's not much out there on Leo Cole: he's from Manchester, came out as trans at age 12, has an older brother, and is into motorbiking.  This is his first on-screen acting role.

There is quite a lot about Dan Hough (Arlo).  He was been nominated for the TV Times Favourite Young Actor Award and the Inside Soaps Best Young Performer Award (for Hollyoakes), and the London Film Critics Young Performer of the Year Award (for Speak No Evil).  -- all  in the same month!  And...wait, what's he doing with a bodybuilder's physique at age...ten?

More after the break

"Breaking Fast": Gay Muslim gets dumped, finds a new boyfriend, shows his dick. But are any of the actors actually gay and Muslim?

 

In the short Breaking Fast (2015), it's Eid-al-Fitr, the last night of Ramadan, and Mo (Ryan Shrime) runs into Cal (probably gay bodybuilder Tom Berklund).  They discuss the suicide of Cal's boyfriend.  

That's all I can gather from Tom Berklund's demo reel: the movie is not available to stream, and the trailer is stuck behind paywalls and Trojan-infested websites.  But a review says that Mo is a gorgeous Superman-obsessed doctor dealing with tragedy (because all short films are about dealing with tragedy, right?), and the guys fall in love.

We don't have a lot of actors who are gay, out, and Muslim, so I thought I would check Ryan Shrime out.

Ryan's  Instagram starts off with three photo dumps of Christmas decorations. Dude is Christian

Then he visits Portugal and Israel with his travel buddy, a miniature Jesus.  Dude is Christian and wacko.

Next there are about 3,000 photos hugging and kissing ladies and playing with kids.  Dude is straight.

Why are you playing a gay Muslim, buddy?  Are you the only Arab-American actor willing to do it?  

Sigh.  Let's check for gay roles and nude photos anyway.  

Ryan got his degree from Harvard, then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.  

Theatrical credits: Macbeth, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Engine of Our Ruin, The Ants

Nothing overtly gay themed there.

He founded the Middle Eastern Comedy Festival and the New York Arab American Comedy Festival

61 acting credits on the IMDB: The Mindy Project, Sam & Kat, Revenge, Grey's Anatomy, Madame Secretary, On My Block, and a lot that I don't recognize.  He complains on Threads that casting agents constantly tell him, "You're so great! I'm just looking for the right role for you," only to offer yet another terrorist role.

He is known for playing:

Lance Chambers on a 2015 episode of Gray's Anatomy: Meredith returns to Seattle to announce Derek's death (Patrick Dempsey, left) and gives birth; Amelia deals with her grief; April decides to stay in a war-torn country, upsetting Jackson (Jesse Williams, below); Ben and Bailey argue over an end-of-life decision. Oh, and Richard proposes to Catherine.  Lance is not mentioned in the plot synopses.  Would there even be room for him?

Ramjin Azizi on a 2017 episode of Madame Secretary, starring Tea Leoni as the Secretary of State: Blake comes out as bisexual, Stevie (a boy) misses a meeting with the Harvard Dean of Admissions when Jason gets sick, and Henry goes to Israel to retrieve the bio weapon, but ISIS agents steal it. Ramjin isn't mentioned in any of the plot synopses, but I'm guessing that he's not a terrorist.

Ryan is also known as the producer of Woe (2020): A brother and sister stumble upon their father's secret after his death. A review says that it's impenetrably art-noveau.  Well, the guy graduated from Harvard.  What do you expect?

At least he shows his dick (top photo).  Or is that misleading, too?

More hopefully gay and Muslim actors after the break