Bert and Ernie, the iconic Sesame Street characters, were a gay couple, according to a writer who penned their words for two decades.

However, the claim brought a categorical denial from the organisation behind the children's show, which said the puppets were just friends and did not have any sexual orientation.

Mark Saltzman, the writer, told lifestyle publication Queerty that the characters reflected experiences he had during his own relationship with the late film editor Arnold Glassman.

Mr Saltzman, who started writing for Sesame Street in 1984, told Queerty: "I always felt that, without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were (gay). I didn’t have any other way to contextualise them. The other thing was, more than one person referred to Arnie and I as 'Bert and Ernie'.