Alice and Steve stars explain gross reason romantic scene had to be cut

Jemaine Clement and Yali Topol Margalith had their work cut out for them to play a romantic couple in the new Disney Plus series Alice and Steve… though not in the way you’d expect. 

The Flight of the Conchords star, 52, and Tattooist of Auschwitz actress, 26, play an unlikely couple in the new “wrong-com”.

Forming a relationship when they’re both at their own emotional lows, the new romance faces the fury of Alice (The Split’s Nicola Walker), her mother and his best friend, who goes to war on a mission to split the pair up. 

But it turns out all she should have done to give the pair the ultimate ‘ick’ is leave them for a stroll in the park… where nature can be just as gross as it is beautiful. 

So much so that one romantic scene between the pair had to be cut from the final show. 

Speaking to Metro, Jemaine explained: ‘It wasn’t planned, but there was a floating, fly-riddled dead fox.’ 

Jemaine Clement and Yali Topol Margalith had their work cut out for them on Alice and Steve (Picture: Lara Cornell/Disney+)

‘The smell…’ added Yali, looking disgusted. ‘Just floating in the river… and we just had to play in love.’

‘We had to kiss each other, but it was like [vomiting],’ Jemaine added. ‘It wasn’t you [Yali], just so you know! It was the floating corpse. 

‘It was disgusting. It was one of the worst things I’ve seen in my life, and it kept floating around. 

‘Sometimes you were like, “Oh, it’s gone away”, and then it was bobbing back.’ 

A dead fox nearly derailed a romantic scene(Picture: Lara Cornell)

‘We obviously didn’t sell it,’ Yali admitted. ‘We were probably gagging the whole way through it.’

Over the course of the six-episode comedy, a dead fox is almost a welcome break from the hell that Alice unleashes on Steve’s life. 

Furious that her best friend of 30 years is now dating her daughter – a daughter he’s watched grow up, no less – it’s on the pair of them to convince her that they’re in it for keeps. 

Yali notes that it was also important to show Izzy being the person to make the first move on Steve, balancing a power that has been long-established with his position as a close friend of the family. 

‘She knows what she wants, and she goes for it, and I love that,’ she says. ‘I think it was important, so that their power dynamic would be a bit more equal. 

‘Nicola and I played best friends for one episode’ (Picture: Jo Hale/Getty Images)

‘Just Steve being a man already makes him a bit more in power, and him being older, the status needed to be a little bit balanced. So her being so forward and so strong, I think, did that a little bit.’ 

But when Alice’s attempts to split them get vicious, Steve takes it upon himself to respond, turning the pair of once best friends into rivals in a brutal battle for Izzy’s heart. 

‘Nicola and I played best friends for one episode,’ said Jemaine. ‘It’s kind of a difficult thing to do, to pretend you’ve had a relationship, but we bonded over that. 

‘It’s like this hard, try and support each other [thing] and make each other look good… and then she hates me for the rest of the time, which is easy!’ 

Alice & Steve launches June 8th on Disney Plus.

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