Celebrities like Cat Deeley enjoy platonic ‘gal-pal kisses’ with other women as a primal bonding ritual that flaunts the power of friendship ‘in a world where car-crash romantic relationships tend to be common and very public’, a body language expert has revealed.
This week, the This Morning presenter playfully smooched her best friend Charlie Brear on the lips in a birthday post for her ‘ride or die’, joining a slew of public figures including Hannah Waddingham, Gigi Hadid and Madonna, who have publicly planted pecks on their besties.
And communications coach Judi James told the Daily Mail that the non-sexual nature of such displays of affection is very common in Hollywood.
‘This ritual is closer to the idea of showing off strong ties,’ she explained. ‘The friendship bonds will be reassuringly enduring and stable, while the nurturing aspect might feel supportive and help to reduce stress.’
Judi added that it seems to be a sweet and proud ‘flaunting’ ritual.
‘The non-sexual nature of the kiss illustrates the important evolutionary purpose of kissing itself though,’ she added.
Celebrities like Cat Deeley enjoy platonic ‘gal-pal kisses’ with other women as a primal bonding ritual that flaunts the power of friendship ‘in a world where car-crash romantic relationships tend to be common and very public’, a body language expert has revealed
‘We tend to see a kiss on the lips as something sexual, often a form of sensual foreplay leading to sex.
‘The lips are pressed together, or the mouths are open and the purpose is to stimulate the nerve endings in the lips and explore sexual styles and preferences, often to check compatibility before the sex act itself.
‘But mouth kissing has also evolved from a completely different and non-sexual origin though, that has more to do with nurturing than lust.
‘Animals will often feed their young by passing food from mouth to mouth, which means it can signify maternal love or a sense of affectionate sharing.’
She revealed that primates ‘kiss’ in order to ‘display social bonding as a symbol of strong ties’ – and the fact can even be ‘calming’, by ‘triggering the emotions of security and love they felt while they were being fed mouth to mouth as babies’.
‘The ritual would normally involve what’s called a “Guppy kiss”, mimicking the kind of non-sexual and rather sweet kiss that children exchange with their friends, siblings and parents,’ Judi continued.
And communications coach Judi James told the Daily Mail that the non-sexual nature of such displays of affection is very common in Hollywood. Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner in 2023
In 2022, while attending the Critics Choice Awards, Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham shared a sweet platonic kiss
Angela Bassett pictured platonically kissing her pal Regina King at the Governors Awards in 2024
Kate Winslet and Allison Janney pictured enjoying a friendly smooch at the Hollywood Film Awards in 2017
‘They stand face-to-face, pushing their chins out and pouting and puckering their lips and pushing them forward like two fishes so that they lightly touch together in a mirrored pose with heads held straight.
‘Often the eyes are open rather than tightly shut as they would be in a sexual kiss.’
She added that even romantic couples may sometimes enjoy a non-romantic smooch, when they ‘want to show affection in public but without adding any sexual connotations’.
Elsewhere, during the summer, Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey raised eyebrows over their affectionate friendship while promoting their film, Jurassic World: Rebirth.
The married 40-year-old actress and her openly gay co-star tenderly kissed each other on the red carpet of the New York and London premieres for their $845M-grossing dino blockbuster.
The handsome Englishman defended their ‘love’ to ET on June 23: ‘I believe in being able to show love in all different ways. And if you can’t kiss your friends? Life’s too short not to!’
Meanwhile, Johansson’s husband Colin said he didn’t consider Jonathan a ‘threat’ since he’s been ‘an out gay man’ as far back as 2018.
‘People really blow it out of proportion when someone, like, kisses their friend hello. That’s pretty nuts,’ the 43-year-old SNL co-head writer told ET on July 10.
‘Jonathan and I were [joking], “I guess we have to kiss now? Is that what happens? Close the loop?”‘
