The organisation behind US children's tv series Sesame Street has said that characters Bert and Ernie are "best friends" after one of the show's writers said they were a gay couple.
Mark Saltzman said in an interview with lifestyle publication Queerty that the characters reflected experiences he had during his relationship with film editor Arnold Glassman.
But Sesame Workshop has released a statement claiming they "do not have a sexual orientation".
A spokesman 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."
Mr Saltzman told Queerty: "I remember one time a preschooler [in San Francisco] turned to her mum and asked, 'are Bert and Ernie lovers?' and that, coming from a preschooler, was fun.
"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."
