Sad news yesterday as it was announced that legendary talk show host Jerry Springer had passed away at the age of 79. RIP to a real legend of daytime TV.

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Anyway, people all over the world started paying tribute to Springer and remembering some of their favourite episodes and of course the classic banned bestiality episode came up. This instalment of the show featured a guy called Mark and his wife Pixel, who just so happened to be a horse.

Despite the fact that bestiality was illegal in the US back in 1998 – and still is now come to think of it – Mark talked openly about how he was in love with Pixel and how the two regularly had sex, even though it meant Mark had contracted hepatitis and was slowly dying because of it. Mark gladly kissed Pixel live on air on the show just to prove how in love the pair of them were too.

Unfortunately the episode was never broadcast for obvious reasons, but Jerry was happy to discuss it on an episode of The Meredith Vieira Show in 2016, saying the following:

This actually happened. I’m not allowed to know what the show’s about, so they hand me a card, but all my card has on it is the names of the guests.

I’m supposed to ask questions that you would ask sitting at home watching and then make jokes, but I never know what the subject is.

And he says, ‘Oh, well, I’m having trouble with the neighbours’.

They’ve got a problem with my wife, but I don’t know why because we don’t make any noise or go anywhere.

This is going nowhere, so I’m thinking, ‘This is boring’. I look at the next name on the list and it says Pixel. ‘Well, let’s bring out Pixel!’

And out comes this HORSE!

I thought his wife has fallen off the horse, you don’t think, ‘Oh gee, that’s his wife’, so I started yelling, ‘Someone check backstage’, and the producers start yelling to me, ‘No, no, that’s his wife!'”

Yeah that does sound like a funny experience for Jerry doesn’t it and it’s kinda mad that they even thought this was going to be a good idea in 1998. Really pushing the envelope even now I feel, but back then? Crazy.

My favourite thing about all this though is finding out that Jerry Springer didn’t do any preparation for any of his shows and just had to wing it every time. Maybe everyone knows that but it just makes the guy even more impressive to me. RIP to a legend.

For more of the same, check out this incredibly racist episode from the first season of Jerry Springer. Actually unbelievable.