 Gay and lesbian groups staged protests against the show, despite an announcement from Channel Seven saying that the episode would be shown in its entirety. The broadcaster said the kiss would air as planned, but they had decided against showing a "more lusty follow up" scene. Seven's head of creative drama and development, Bevan Lee, said Home and Away bosses cut the "more lusty follow up because it fitted better with the storyline". Lee added that he was "saddened" that the storyline had been reduced to a "facile argument about six missing seconds of screen time and that the bulk of commentators, both conservative and liberal, are making pronouncements on story material they know nothing of". British broadcaster, Five, said that they would show the kiss during their airing of the episode. The channel said "Five, the UK broadcaster for Home and Away, will screen a lesbian kiss in a forthcoming episode. It forms part of a six-week-long story, about the attraction between two female characters, Joey and Charlie. There will be several episodes where the characters kiss". They added that the producers at Channel Seven "edit all episodes for artistic and editorial reasons only" and the storyline would remain uncompromised in its Australian airing.
