Earlier this week, viewers of HGTV’s popular show “House Hunters” watched in shock — and a bit of awe — as a polyamorous “throuple” searched for a new home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“Buying a house together as a throuple will signify our next big step as a family of five, rather than all four of them plus me,” said Angelica, referring to her partners Lori and Brian and their two biological children. “I didn’t plan on being in a relationship with a married couple, but it just happened very naturally, organically.”
During Wednesday’s episode, Brian revealed the trio tied the knot, so to speak, a few weeks ago in Aruba.
“In this country, of course, you can only be married to one other individual, so we joined with Angelica in a commitment ceremony,” Brian explained, adding that he always knew his legal wife, Lori, was bisexual. “This has nothing to do with church and state; it’s a commitment between the three of us. We are all equals in this relationship.”
By Thursday, “HGTV House Hunters” and “polyamorous throuple relationship”were trending search terms as viewers reacted to the triad with a mix of amazement, confusion and horror.
“Oh my god. A throuple on House Hunters,” queer author Roxane Gay wrote in a Twitter thread. “Great episode!!!! Educational.” Gay added on the thread that her partner, Debbie Millman, said “no” to a throuple “very very fast.”
A number of Twitter users questioned the practicality of the polyamorous homebuyers.
“The throuple on hgtv wants a room that fits all three of them and three sinks in the master bathroom,” one woman wrote. “Aint no body have a move in ready house with THREE SINKS.”
“Life is wild and so are triple sink vanities,” tweeted Katherine Cuellar, who said she attended high school with throuple member Angelica.
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Others said that they saw something of themselves in the throuple. “I think a lot about how in the hell I would ever find a house that would suit the family I envision myself someday having so this House Hunters throuple thing is pretty dope actually,” tweeted Kat Veldt. “It’s cool that people are talking about housing for families that aren’t traditional nuclear structures. Love to see it.”
However, not everyone found the episode enlightening. Conservative Princeton University law professor Robert P. George, who wrote a book in 2012 decrying same-sex marriage, saw the throuple storyline as vindication of his past predictions.
“The normalization of polyamory rolls down the track, just as I and others predicted it would,” George tweeted, calling it “a simple unfolding of the logic of social liberalism.”
Regardless of viewers’ personal opinions about polyamorous relationships, the episode caught their attention.
“I was legit about to change the channel until I heard throuple,” another Twitter user wrote. “You have my FULL attention now lol #HouseHunters.”