Scottish comedy duo The Krankies, real-life married couple Ian and Janette Tough, have revealed that they ended their open marriage in the 1980s because of jealousy among their extra partners and fear that a kiss-and-tell story could damage their wholesome TV image.
Open Marriage Revelations
In a 2011 interview with Radio Scotland, the couple, who met at age 18 and married at 21, disclosed that they had an open marriage during the 1970s and 1980s. They said this was not an attempt to spice up their relationship but a lifestyle they actively pursued. Janette Tough stated, "We weren't behind each other's backs. We knew what each other was up to." The revelations caused a media frenzy given their clean-cut image from shows like BBC's Crackerjack and The Krankies Club.
Why They Stopped
Ian Tough explained in the 2011 chat, "What we started worrying about was that the other people were getting jealous. Today it would be in the papers instantly. In those days, people were very good." He added that they worried jealousy might lead someone to sell a story, prompting them to end their extracurricular activities. Janette later told the Express in 2015, "We had fun and we had wild parties in our early days but we were never swingers." Ian downplayed the extent to the Mirror, saying, "It was never orgies or wife-swapping parties or swingers’ clubs. We just had a bit of a wild spell when we had lots of fun - our Dirty Thirties."
Details of Their 'Wild Spell'
Janette conceded they had an "anywhere, anytime" attitude to sex, spending time with a lion-tamer named Rocky while Ian did the same with his assistant Angie. "We each knew what the other was doing. But as we got more famous on kids’ TV we were playing with fire. We didn’t want kiss and tell stories coming out, so we calmed down," she said. The couple, married for 57 years, have never faced a kiss-and-tell from any of their former partners.
