{"id":534140,"date":"2026-03-11T21:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534140\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T21:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:42:16","slug":"these-are-the-men-you-should-be-paying-attention-to-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534140\/","title":{"rendered":"These are the men you should be paying attention to on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Have you noticed all the blokes crying on screen lately? Or just talking about their feelings. Being, you know, nice. From Benedict in Bridgerton<\/a>, to the lads of Heated Rivalry<\/a> and even the fellas in I\u2019m a Celebrity \u2026 Get Me Out of Here! and Australian Survivor<\/a>, tears and big emotions have been on proud display.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Louis<\/a><\/p>\n

The thing is, not many people talk about it. What does get talked about is the man on Married At First Sight who says he wants an \u201cobedient\u201d wife<\/a>, or how other men on the same show rank their wives and discuss whether they are \u201chot\u201d or not.<\/p>\n

The nice guys are not at dinner parties or on horses, or punching other dudes<\/a>. They don\u2019t live on a ranch, and they don\u2019t attempt to frame their biographer for murder. Instead, they are eating cheese as part of a boys\u2019 supper club, they are making toasties or smoothies for their hot hockey boyfriends, or they are crying over photos of their newborn while trapped on a beach in Samoa. It\u2019s the noisy ones, the controversial ones that get all the attention, but let\u2019s not forget the good guys \u2013 fictional and real \u2013 who are rewriting the rules around male behaviour on TV, who are supporting women and providing a good example (old-fashioned, I know) about what it means to be a man.<\/p>\n

\"LukeLuke Thompson, who plays Benedict Bridgerton, with Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek.Bridgerton (Netflix)<\/p>\n

Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) has long been the MVP of Netflix\u2019s Regency-era bonkbuster, swinging between men and women, refusing to be constrained by society\u2019s ideas of how a man should behave.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Happier<\/a><\/p>\n

He is a source of confidence to his sister Eloise and now, in finding love with Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha<\/a>, beautifully going toe-to-toe with Thompson) he is looking past her position as a maid, and vowing to love her for who she is (we can all agree to forget the \u201cWill you be my mistress?\u201d misstep in episode four, OK). He has also been open enough to share his bisexuality with Sophie, and she, in return, essentially shrugged and moved on.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only Bridgerton bloke showing his softer side, either. The Featherington sisters\u2019 husbands \u2013 Colin, Harry and Albion \u2013 enjoy supper clubs together, where they discuss cheeses from France. It\u2019s dudes being dudes, gentlemen being gentlemen. Even Colin, who I normally despise, has come good in season four, supporting his wife Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) as she makes a living.<\/p>\n

Sure, it\u2019s all fiction and yes, it\u2019s all a show that\u2019s geared towards women, and that\u2019s great. When other men are out there are asking for \u201cobedient\u201d wives, Benedict wants a woman with spunk. And in an era of hypermasculinity, the acceptance of his bisexuality \u2013 by both male and female characters \u2013 is revolutionary. Let\u2019s just say it\u2019s a happy ending we can all agree on.<\/p>\n

\"ShaneShane Hollander (Hudson Williams, left) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) sizzle on screen in Heated Rivalry.Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)<\/p>\n

There has already been lots of chat<\/a> about the hot, hot, hot gay ice hockey drama<\/a> and how it has captivated a largely straight female audience. They came for the pert bottoms and stayed for the genuine exchange of emotion between Canada\u2019s Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and his Russian rival Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). Consent was a thing! Mutual pleasure was a thing! They cooked for each other. I\u2019m pretty sure one of them even washed the dishes.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Nicole<\/a><\/p>\n

Again, I realise the show is fiction, but it modelled behaviour that is considerate, kind, open and loving. It wasn\u2019t just Shane and Ilya \u2013 a special high five goes to Kip\u2019s dad, who was a big old softie and a role model for positive parenting. He did not reject his son because he was a gay, he loved him. And it was not a big deal. In age of toxic masculinity, hypermasculinity and any other \u201cinity\u201d you can think of, Heated Rivalry showed there wasn\u2019t any one way to be a man and there was a way forward for all types of relationships.<\/p>\n

\"SteveSteve Carell and\u00a0Charly Clive have great chemistry as father and daughter in Rooster.HBO MaxRooster (HBO Max)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just hot boyfriends and supportive husbands, being a good dad is important, too. They have been a screen staple for years (think Family Ties, Modern Family, Packed to the Rafters, Bluey), and Steve Carrel is the latest to enter the chat. In the Rooster, his character Greg Russo is a steady support to his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) when her marriage falls apart.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very much in the vein of Ted Lasso<\/a> and Shrinking<\/a> (all shows share writer, producer and nice guy Bill Lawrence in common) and Carrel\u2019s Greg Russo is a rare example of a TV dad who\u2019s actively engaged in his adult daughter\u2019s life, mature enough to talk through her relationship or career issues (while working on his own), and dedicated enough to fight any man who wrongs her.<\/p>\n

\"DysonDyson Heppell, Concetta Caristo and Gary Sweet after their first challenge in I\u2019m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!I\u2019m a Celebrity \u2026 Get Me Out of Here! (Network 10)<\/p>\n

Who knew a reality show that gets its kicks out making celebrities eat offal would be the biggest feel-good story of the year so far? (Admittedly, it\u2019s only March, but I\u2019m making the call right now.) And while Concetta Caristo was a deserving winner<\/a> who put herself out there by sharing her story of domestic violence, a lot of the feel-good vibes came from the blokes, who sat in camp and cried while they openly talked about the kids, parents, depression, mental illness, loss and love.<\/p>\n

Actor Gary Sweet<\/a>, former AFL star Dyson Heppell and former rugby league player turned BookTokker Luke Bateman<\/a> cried all the time. They hugged every day, they talked about gratitude and fair play.<\/p>\n

It was beautiful to watch. My husband even yelled at the screen, \u201cThis is the kind of TV people should be paying attention to!\u201d Back in the day, a couple of footballers crying on TV probably would have copped a slur or three, but Bateman, in particular, normalised talking about his feelings, and was open about his gambling addiction and struggles in rehab. That is not a small thing.<\/p>\n

\"AustralianAustralian Survivor\u2019s Simon Mee (left) and Harry Hills.Australian Survivor (Network 10)<\/p>\n

Stick with me here, because on a show that\u2019s all about strategy and outmanoeuvring your teammates, Australian Survivor<\/a> has shown that spending up to 45 days on a beach in Samoa will result in you missing your family. And that\u2019s OK!<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

Simon Mee \u2013 happily labelled one of the worst players in the game \u2013 has cried several times this season, shedding tears over missing his toddler daughter and the difficulty of losing his Bounty teammate \u201cDirty\u201d Harry Hills (who also cried when he was voted out). He also tries really, really hard, which is an underrated and unappreciated skill. Sure, he might not be great at Survivor (and, again, that\u2019s OK!) but he\u2019s putting his feelings out there in a TV format that rewards tough men who can stay the distance. Trying is cool. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.<\/p>\n

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-534140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}