The 21 most-popular gay entertainment stories of 2014

Celebs, scandals, wacky videos and, of course, lots of male flesh. Here are Mambaonline’s most-popular gay entertainment stories of 2014, as chosen by our site visitors.

We’ve ranked these top 21 articles from least to most-read. It’s a chance to revisit the entertainment news that grabbed the attention of South Africa’s gay community in the last year.

21. DID SOMIZI MHLONGO SNUB HIS GAY FANS?
Yes, we were hurt! South African gay choreographer and socialite Somizi Mhlongo appeared uninterested in opening up to his gay fans when he rudely snubbed our attempt to arrange an interview in September. Here’s what happened.
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20. ARROW HUNK SLAMS “STONE AGE” RUSSIAN GAY LAW
Yay! Not only is Stephen Amell, the hunky star of the American superhero series Arrow, one of our favourite eye-candy specimens on TV, but he’s also supportive of the LGBT community. In February, he made his feelings clear about Russia’s “gay propaganda” law on Facebook during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
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19. WATCH: RICKY MARTIN TURNS SONG GAY IN MOROCCO
In June, singer Ricky Martin made a powerful statement when he changed the lyrics “she” to “he” while performing a love song in Morocco. Martin, who’s been openly gay since 2010, made the subversive move as he performed his 1999 track She’s All I Ever Had at a music festival. A thumbs-up from us!
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18. AFRICA’S FIRST GAY TV NETWORK ON ITS WAY
Also in June, we reported that CloseTV, set to be Africa’s first gay TV network, was a step closer to reality. Sadly, nothing much has happened since, but we hear that plans are still underway to launch this service in the near future in some form or another.
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17. WE LOVE JOSH HARTNETT’S GAY SMOOCH
American heartthrob Josh Hartnett wowed his gay fans after he kissed fellow actor Reeve Carney in the horror TV show Penny Dreadful. In the episode, Hartnett’s daring man of action Ethan Chandler grabbed Carney’s Dorian Gray for a passionate man on man kiss. Watch it here.
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16. WATCH: SHIRTLESS ZAC EFRON & BEAR GRYLLS MAN-BOND
We can’t resist any opportunity to gaze longingly on Zac Efron’s body. In July, arguably Hollywood’s hottest man shared a shirtless adventure with sexy survival expert Bear Grylls. It was all too much, really!
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15. GAYS SHOULD LEAVE ME ALONE, SAYS ACTOR
Not much positive LGBT news came out of Nigeria in 2014. In the entertainment world, Nollywood actor Augustine Okoye didn’t help matters when he claimed that he was being harassed by gay people after he played a gay role in a movie.
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14. GAY X-MEN DIRECTOR IN TEEN SEX SCANDAL
In April, the entertainment world was shocked by news that Bryan Singer, the openly gay director of the hit X-Men movies, had been accused of drugging and raping an underage male actor. The scandal escalated with another accuser making similar claims against Singer before both cases fell apart later in the year.
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13. VIRAL SOLO PORN VIDEO BODYBUILDER SAYS HE’S NOT GAY
Well, what an eyeful we got! An “embarrassed” social media bodybuilding star, whose “leaked” x-rated solo videos went viral, posted a bizarre video insisting that he’s not gay and confessing that he regretted making them.
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12. BRAD & ANGELINA SET TO BECOME JOBURGERS?
In January, Jozi’s residents were in a celeb-tizz following reports that Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would be living in the city for eight months. Sadly, nothing came of the rumours and the A-listers never actually made it to the City of Gold.
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11. ‘BEAR’ GAME OF THRONES ACTOR COMES OUT
Kristian Nairn, who plays the character of Hodor on the hit fantasy television show Game of Thrones, revealed that he is gay in March. The 38-year-old Northern Irish actor, DJ and ‘bear’ from Belfast is best known for his role as the near-giant stableboy who carries around the young Bran Stark.
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10. FIREFIGHTERS IN TROUBLE OVER SPOOF VIDEO
A group of hunky French firefighters got into trouble for making a fun parody video to Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen’s smash hit Call Me Maybe. Their party-pooping bosses claimed it was unacceptable for them to have used official equipment and property for the video. Watch it here.
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9. US BIG BROTHER HOUSE A HOTBED OF HOMOEROTISM
Big Brother in the US ramped up the homoerotic heat between the male cast members in 2014. It all kicked off with a blossoming ‘showmance’ that emerged between openly gay Frankie Grande (the half-brother of pop star Ariana Grande) and straight housemate Zach Rance.
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8. JAMES FRANCO’S HOMOEROTIC BED SELFIE
This was honestly much ado about nothing, but we were all still fascinated by James Franco’s continued flirting with his gay fans. In April, he posted a selfie on Instragram in which he was seen sharing a bed with a fellow male actor.
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7. TOM DALEYS BUM MAKES 1ST PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Sexy British gay diving star Tom Daley continued to make headlines in 2014 after coming out the previous year. In February, a cheeky nude photo from behind of the champ lathering up in the shower briefly appeared online. You can see it here.
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6. ‘COCK IN A SOCK’ CAMPAIGN GOES VIRAL
A sexy UK social media campaign to raise awareness about testicular cancer went viral in March. Hundreds, if not thousands, of British men took off their clothes and snapped selfies wearing nothing but socks on their… umm… cocks, which they then posted on social media. These were some of our faves.
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5. CAMERON WOWS IN SEXY PHOTO SHOOT
In January, South African Olympic swimming star Cameron van der Berg wowed us with this steamy photo shoot for Gaschette Magazine. In the images, he revealed a more masculine and sultry side; one that we’d never seen before.
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4. GAME RANGERS GO NAKED TO SAVE THE RHINO
Protecting our wildlife never felt so satisfying! In October, South Africans were fascinated by a calendar of naked game rangers launched to help save the endangered rhino from extinction. Did you buy one?
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3. IRISH FOOTBALL STAR IN GAY PORN SCANDAL
The football world was taken by surprise in April when explicit images and x-rated videos linked to Irish football player Cathal McCarron emerged online. The videos were alleged to feature the 26-year-old athlete and father of one under the pseudonym “Fergus”.
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2. ORLANDO PIRATES NAKED PIC LEADS TO GAY ARTICLE
Oh, what a conservative nation we are! A harmless and fun naked selfie of a group of Orlando Pirates footballers cause a huge furore in May and even led to a spoof report claiming that some of the players on the team are gay.
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1. SURVIVOR SA’S ZAVION WOWS IN NUDE PICS
Athletic wedding planner Zavion Kotze had a great 2014. He not only raised his profile thanks to an impressive close-to-winning turn on Survivor South Africa, but also brought back 12 medals from the Cleveland Gay Games. In February, he posed for this eye-popping near-nude picture for Heat magazine.
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