Muppets Star Kermit the Frog Confirms Break-Up With Miss Piggy

You can put a pork fork in one of Hollywood’s great romances.

Kermit the Frog, who headlines ABC’s The Muppets mockumentary comedy (premiering Tuesday, Sept. 22), revealed on Tuesday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that he and longtime love Miss Piggy are on the outs.

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“It’s a day-by-day, moment-by-moment process,” Kermit shared, the pain of the split still evident in his sewn-on eyes. “Piggy and I have gone our separate ways romantically.

“It can be tough to work with your ex,” he explained. “There will be an official statement released in the press (see below). I don’t want to betray anything.”

Egged on by Muppets EP/co-showrunner Bill Prady, Kermit confirmed that he is now dating another pig, named Denise and who “works in marketing” at ABC.

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Piggy herself then showed up at the panel, fashionably late and most curious to hear which version of the breakup story Kermit had told the TCA members. Asked how the split might affect the series — which will take us behind the scenes of a new talk show called Up Late With Miss Piggy — she argued, “Any kind of attention is good publicity.”

Piggy later bragged, “Dating moi is like flying close to the sun. It was inevitable that Kermit would drop down to the ground while I stayed in the heavens.”

Outside of all the romantic entanglements talk… Prady offered the new show’s backstory, saying, “We tried a version of this about eight years ago but it wasn’t timed right.” When he and EP Bob Kushell circled back with ABC this spring, “There was immediate enthusiasm for the project” — so much so that the network lobbied hard for a fast-tracked pilot (ultimately a 10-minute “presentation”) to be considered for the 2015-16 TV season.

Prady says The Muppets will offer “unfettered access” to the puppets’ personal lives. To which Kermit shrugged, “I tried to fetter it — but it didn’t work out.”

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