Ryan Guzman Disney/Mike Taing
9-1-1 fans think Celebrity Family Feud may have just spoiled an upcoming plot line about Ryan Guzman’s character, Eddie Diaz.
The cast of 9-1-1 took to social media on Saturday, April 6, to share behind-the-scenes clips from an upcoming episode of the iconic game show. Guzman, 36, along with Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Bryan Safi and Tracie Thoms were the five costars chosen to appear on the episode, which is set to air later this summer. The ABC stars will compete against cast from Amazon Freevee’s Jury Duty.
After getting a sneak peek of the episode, eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed a theme: nearly every 9-1-1 actor appearing on Family Feud portrays a queer character on the series. Hinds and Thoms, both 48, have played lesbian couple Hen and Karen since the show premiered, while Safi plays gay 9-1-1 operator Josh. Stark’s character Buck, meanwhile, recently came out as bisexual during episode 100.
Guzman, for his part, was the only exception as Eddie has presented as straight over the show’s seven seasons, leading fans to question his presence.
9-1-1’s Evan “Buck” Buckley and Eddie Diaz have been a beloved duo since the show’s second season — with some fans even hoping their friendship will turn into something more. Buck and Eddie, portrayed by Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman, respectively, became fast friends after Eddie joined the 118 during season 2. When a massive […]
“Does this mean Eddie is gAy?” one social media user asked via X, while another wrote, “My favorite thing about the 9-1-1 cast doing celebrity Family Feud is that every one of these people plays a canonically queer character (except Ryan, but…it’s just a matter of time lmao).”
A third person added: “I can’t believe Celebrity Family Feud outed Eddie Diaz.”
Others questioned if the timing of the episode, which could air during Pride Month in June, was an indicator of what’s to come. “YALL I think the episode doesn’t come out til like May or June I think, meaning the season would be done, meaning that Eddie comes out this season, cause why is Ryan there?” one fan asked.
Why Family Feud chose to put two actors in recurring roles on the team — Thoms and Safi — instead of other main cast members like Kenneth Choi, Peter Krause and Angela Bassett, was also up for debate.
“An interesting selection of characters there,” one person said as another pointed out: “The main characters of the 118 coulda easily did this, so queer had to be the criteria and 4/5 are currently canonically queer.”
The cast of 9-1-1 will be competing on an upcoming episode of Celebrity Family Feud! #911onABC pic.twitter.com/E6wtPuf1xf
— 9-1-1 NEWS (@911TVNEWS) April 6, 2024
While he has only dated women on the show, many fans have been rooting for Eddie to get together with his BFF Buck since Guzman joined the cast in season 2. Some believe that after Buck explores his sexuality, Eddie will have his own coming out journey.
Buck’s first kiss with a man came during the April 4 episode of the ABC series, where he spends much of the hour desperate for Eddie’s attention before ultimately revealing his attraction for their mutual friend, Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), instead.
Although the last-minute switch-up could be perceived as confusing, 9-1-1 showrunner Tim Minear revealed that the Thursday, April 11, episode will clarify the reason for Buck and Eddie’s tension.
“Buck and Eddie are best friends and because they’re best friends and because he has very deep feelings for his best friend, keeping something from him is painful, but it’s scary to completely turn over every card when you don’t even know what those cards are yourself,” Minear, 60, told TV Insider earlier this week. “So I think we give it the screen time it needs in the next episode. The next episode really is about Buck feeling like he’s lying to his best friend and he can’t live with that.”
As for whether Buck and Eddie will find themselves romantically linked in the future, Minear said that for right now, both characters are on their own respective journeys.
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“Buck is exploring something about himself and he’s made a new friend,” he told the outlet. “I can’t really even predict for myself exactly where the story might go in future episodes.”
Minear also noted that Eddie has a different dating history than Buck, saying, “Eddie’s with a woman. Eddie’s been married to a woman. Eddie has a child with a woman. Eddie also has very complicated feelings about, I think, his place in the world. I don’t know if they’re the same exact issues that Buck has, but we’ll be exploring some of that with Eddie coming up actually in the next episode as well.”