Why Contestants on ‘Family Feud’ Used to Take Herpes Tests

Survey says...time for a herpes exam! Contestants on Family Feud routinely heard those surprising words backstage decades ago, according to a new book about shocking entertainment industry controversies.

In Kliph Nesteroff's Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars, the author revealed a policy that stated Feud contestants had to "undergo a mouth test with a magnifying glass from medical staff" before interacting with host and notorious flirt Richard Dawson.

Dawson hosted the long-running game show from 1976 to 1985, where he would routinely kiss female contestants on the lips.

Nesteroff writes, "A contestant revealed that before her appearance, a Family Feud production assistant entered the dressing room with a magnifying glass and a cotton swab and said, 'Okay, everybody line up for your herpes test.'"

The tests allegedly came into play after some viewers expressed disgust at Dawson's free-wheeling behavior.

"Several game show fans were repulsed," the book says. "One viewer complained, 'Richard Dawson spreads more bugs every week than a flu epidemic.'"

The book cites a letter written to the Philadelphia Daily News at the time, which read: "As a physician, I have wondered about the risks Richard Dawson takes in kissing every female contestant on Family Feud. The diseases that could be transmitted by promiscuous kissing are too long and too loathsome to recount here. Does Dawson or the producers take any caution to prevent infection? Are none of them informed?"

In a 2010 interview with the Television Academy, Dawson acknowledged that the network told him he had to "stop the kissing" because there had been "so many complaints" and sponsors had threatened to pull their advertising.

"I said, 'I'm going to do this the only way I know,'" Dawson recalled, "and I walked out."

The British comedian then called on viewers to write into the network about whether or not they condoned his behavior, which, according to Dawson, led to nearly 100,000 Family Feud fans flooding ABC with letters of support.

Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars is available now.