History Main / TheBeard

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Many gays and lesbians maintain straight relationships to cover themselves, including marriages. Many gays and lesbians maintain straight relationships to cover themselves, including marriages. Hawk marries Lucy Smith to make her his (unwitting) beard (though she learns soon enough).

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Many gays and lesbians maintain straight relationships to cover themselves, including marriages.

* The ''Series/{{Friends}}'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10272341/1/Fix-You Fix You]]" features Ross reuniting with the group after spending four years in London since his marriage to Emily, learning that Rachel is now engaged to Marco, the heir to a major fashion business. After Rachel marries Marco and Ross has officially returned to New York, he accompanies Joey to a gay bar to help Joey research for an upcoming role, only to see Marco making out with another man; Marco was actually gay and hid it from his disapproving father.

* ''Series/LukeCage'': In season 2 it's eventually revealed that Mariah Dillard was this to her late husband Jackson, their marriage having been one of convenience both to allow Jackson's parents to continue deluding themselves that their son wasn't gay, and to pass off Mariah's daughter (actually [[ChildByRape the result of her rape by her uncle]]) as his. Mariah does claim that she still loved him, just "in all the ways a straight woman can love a gay man."

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''In an episode called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The Beard"]], Elaine becomes the beard for a gay man that she ends up falling for.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers2023'': Many gays and lesbians maintain straight relationships to cover themselves, including marriages.

* ''Music/{{MILGRAM}}'': Kazui Mukuhara married a woman for social credibility and the hopes of changing. She died after he told her the truth. It's [[AmbiguouslyGay heavily implied that he's gay]] because of his constant talk of how he can't be the way he was born and how he has to keep lying. In his second song, "Cat":

It's for the sake of true love, who wouldn't lie for that?\\
(...) I can't stop, I can't be normal.''

Subtrope of FakeRelationship. Compare EmergencyImpersonation and SorryImGay. When this trope is inverted, see FauxYay.

* ''Series/{{Acapulco}}'': In the ninth episode Maximo pretends to date Roberta so no one will figure out that Roberta is actually his sister Sara's girlfriend. This causes some shenanigans when he ropes Memo in to bring Sara as his "date" to the Las Colinas holiday party while Maximo brings Roberta, intending to give them a night out...only for Don Pablo to bring their mother to the party.

->''"Have you ever heard about the term "beards"? It is when a gay man and woman date each other in order to hide the fact that they are gay. Like the Roosevelts. So you and I are going to be each other's beards. Then we are going to win Prom King — and Queen and rule the school."''

A character who pretends to be another's Significant Other in order to perpetuate a deception.

'''This card is played when:'''
* A character is trying to appear [[TransparentCloset straight]] (or, rarely, [[FauxYay gay]]) when they're not.
* A character must appear married in order to [[CitizenshipMarriage become a citizen]].
* A character is attending a high school reunion and wants to show up with a hot date.
* A character wants to discourage unwanted romantic attention by pretending to be already taken.
* A character wants to get overbearing parents, grandparents or other family members off their back about their love life.
* A character wants to [[OperationJealousy make their actual love interest jealous and get them to admit their feelings]].

Most often seen in the {{sitcom}}.

A man dated by a lesbian to make her appear straight is known as "a frock" in British English. A frock makes a woman appear feminine much as a beard makes a man appear masculine.

Gay men who marry The Beard do this generally as [[ArmouredClosetGay an elaborate refusal to come out of the closet]]. They "prove" it to themselves and others that they are not gay because they have a wife ([[SexlessMarriage that they never touch]]) so they [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday most definitely are not leading a gay lifestyle]]. Other times, it's an open arrangement with the wife in order to abide by social standards — sometimes the wife herself may be a lesbian.

JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith GrowingTheBeard, where a show significantly improves at some point. Nor is it to be confused with The Beard and The Suit setup of a technology startup, the Beard who handles the technology, and the Suit who handles the business side and [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder stops the Beard from walking into traffic or excitedly explaining his proprietary secrets to the first person who expresses an interest]].

Subtrope of FakeRelationship. Supertrope of UndercoverAsLovers, OperationJealousy, CitizenshipMarriage, GirlfriendInCanada, ShockValueRelationship, BoyfriendBluff, RomanticFakeRealTurn and WeddingRingDefense. Compare EmergencyImpersonation, and SorryImGay. When this trope is inverted, see FauxYay.

* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma is forced by Mikoto to help her to fend off a potential suitor (the grandson of the Tokiwadai Chairman) that she's not able to fend off [[ShockAndAwe her usual way]]. Of course, the act just ends up flaring the feelings she's already been growing for Touma [[spoiler:and the "grandson" is actually a spy from the Magic Side who's been sent to potentially kill her (although he ''is'' [[InLoveWithTheMark in love with her]]).]]

** Implied to be why Prince Schneizel keeps appearing with Nina Einstein in public - as his aide and brother drop very big hints about his true sexuality. Of course, Nina herself is [[PsychoLesbian desperately in love with]] the prince's dead little sister...

* Mizuho from ''Manga/DandelionAmongLilies'' had an older boyfriend in high school because she didn't think being [[{{Gayngst}} lesbian would go well.]] It turns out he was cheating on her with another man.
* ''Manga/TheDayOfRevolution'': Megumi, a young intersex girl raised as a boy, is having trouble adjusting in part because all of her former social circle are doggedly pursuing her now that she's female. So her best friend/therapist Makoto suggests Megumi use her younger brother Mikoto as a beard--knowing full well that Mikoto's interest in Megumi is genuine--because a) it's fun to tease her little brother and b) a little respectful, gentle male attention may just be the ticket for Megumi.
* Light in ''Manga/DeathNote'' pretended that Misa was his girlfriend in order to A) appear more normal and B) convince Misa to help him kill L. He also told his mother and sister that he had a girlfriend before he met Misa, as an excuse for being out of the house so often. In fact, during college, he used at least four or five other girls (one of which was the infamous Kiyomi Takada) for this purpose, either [[{{Polyamory}} with]] or without their knowledge. Takada later plays this role unknowingly, after being duped by Light into thinking she'd become the Goddess of Kira's New World Order.
* In ''Manga/TheGentlemensAlliance'', Shizumasa[[spoiler:/Takanari]] makes sure to maintain one at all times so as to avoid being jumped by the school's female population. It's initially Maguri, and later becomes Haine.
* Gakurouta and Yuriko Hanazono from ''Manga/IWantToBeAWall'' are a gay man and an aromantic/asexual woman, respectively, in a lavender marriage to avoid further pressure from their families to settle down.
* In ''Manga/LoveHina'' this sort of thing happens a couple of times. Once when Keitaro plays boyfriend to Motoko in order to keep her from being forced back to run her family's dojo. The punch line is that when it is exposed, the sister decides to force them to get married. This also a different take on the WillTheyOrWontThey instance where the Beard (or the person using the Beard) is a rival to the other part of the WillTheyOrWontThey couple.
* In ''Anime/MariaHolic'' Kiri decides to act as a lesbian beard to Kanako so that the jealous lesbians won't think that Kanako is involved with the popular Ishima Ryuuken. Since Kanako really is a closet lesbian, this could have been a pretty original and interesting side plot... but unfortunately the matter got dropped for no adequately explained reason and nothing ever came of it.
* ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy'':
** Ginta and Arimi pretended to be each other's beards to get Miki (Ginta's crush and best friend) and Yuu (Arimi's ex boyfriend) back, respectively. However, they ended up falling in love with each other and hooking up for real.
** In the anime version, Ryouko Momoi agreed to temporarily be Namura-sensei's beard in regards to Meiko Akizuki; he thought he wasn't worth all the trouble Meiko had already gone through, and wanted her to be free. [[spoiler: Eventually, when this messed up Meiko ''even more'', Ryouko grew tired and told her the truth. Namura recognized it wasn't working and broke the charade off, dating and eventually marrying Meiko]].
* In one issue of ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'', Mikoshiba needs a fake girlfriend to drive off an unwanted admirer. He starts to tell Sakura about it but then both of them actively avoid continuing the conversation, [[DefiedTrope knowing that the flow would have them fake a relationship]] (which neither wants to happen). He winds up asking Seo to do it -- it works, but not in the way he expected.
* In ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'', Cuuko uses Mahiro this way in order to drive off her cousin Cuune, who wants to drag Cuuko home to space and [[LesYay marry her]]. This is mostly PlayedForLaughs, with Mahiro and Cuuko's poor attempts to look lovey-dovey that ''still'' trigger ClingyJealousGirl reactions in both Cuune and Mahiro's own love interest Nyarko. It stops being funny when after a whole day of watching this, combined with Mahiro's unintentionally harsh response when she begs him to call it off, sends Nyarko into a HeroicBSOD and later leads to an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. Note that while Cuuko is attracted to Nyarko, the fake relationship isn't to hide her homosexuality[[note]]or bisexuality, since she starts developing feelings for Mahiro[[/note]] as is usually the case with this trope. According to Nyarko herself, their two races are mortal enemies and if word of Cuuko's crush became public it would destroy her family's reputation.
* ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}'' eventually reveals that the relationship between [[spoiler:Tabuki and Yuri]] is this, and is a mutual setup in order to [[spoiler:get Tabuki's first love Momoka back -- and it turns out Yuri ''also'' loved her]]. Also is this trope in the more traditional sense in that [[spoiler:Yuri]] is apparently gay or bisexual.
* When matters of honor came to a head in ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'', Akane and Ranma pretended to be married so Ukyo would give up her claim. It backfired spectacularly --Ukyou didn't let up, indeed, she raised the stakes, and the [[BelligerentSexualTension two "lovebirds"]] ended up increasingly flustered at each other-- and [[StatusQuoIsGod they never, ever, tried that again]].
* This is Chizuru's job in ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend''. She makes a living working as a rental girlfriend. It isn't until not only Kazuya lies to his grandmother about their relationship, but Chizuru's refusal to admit to them for the sake of ''her'' grandmother as well, where the charade has to be kept up for all parties involved.
* In the ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' manga, Tsukune is forced to play the beard for both Kurumu and Mizore at the same time, in order to convince their respective mothers that they have successfully seduced Tsukune. An interesting take on this trope is that the beard and the people using him are all part of the same {{Harem}}.
* In ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'', Kanata was an ArmouredClosetGay in Japan and also smitten with his classmate Shun. In an attempt to hide his actual interest, he very publicly confessed to the one girl in class certain to turn him down, Wakaba Hiiro. If anyone suspected he was gay, he could use his unrequited love for Wakaba as a beard. [[spoiler:Wabaka, aka D, did not like the false confession and decided to "help" Kanata get together with Shun by reincarnating him as a girl]].
* ''Manga/SPYxFamily'': When Loid and Yor first meet, they agree to play the beard for the other: the latter needs a fake boyfriend to get her brother's friend and her coworkers off her back at a party, while the former needs someone who can pose as the mother of his (adopted) daughter Anya for a parent interview at Eden Academy. At the party, Loid has a slipup and says that he's Yor's ''husband'', and Yor decides it would be easier to keep the cover by legally marrying each other for real. As time goes by, however, [[BecomingTheMask they start acting more and more]] [[RomanticFakeRealTurn like a real family]].

* Nakahara bearded for Satō in an episode of ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'' to fool his mother into believing that Satō wasn't a {{hikikomori}}.

* In ''Manga/TheWorldIsStillBeautiful'', Nike [[SweetPollyOliver poses as Luna's fiance as "Vice Captain Kanaris Micaine"]] in order to drive away Luna's unwanted ArrangedMarriage.
* ''Manga/ZettaiHeiwaDaisakusen'': The whole plot revolves around the main characters faking a romance to get their countries to end their war. In private, they tend to get into arguments and don't truly love each other, at least not [[BecomingTheMask initially]].

* In ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'' it turns out Nancy's boyfriend is her Beard. She's cheating on him with Ginger; however, Ginger is too worried to come out of the closet.
* In Franchise/{{Batman}}, Bruce Wayne's public girlfriends are little more than an endless string of beards, allowing him to keep up the façade of being a MillionairePlayboy.

* When Mayor Hundred of ''ComicBook/ExMachina'' announces his support for gay marriage the night after a date, she assumes he's just using her as a beard. At the end of the arc he attempts to mend fences, and admits to Suzanne he might have had *some* ulterior motives for going out with her. Hundred remains effectively MarriedToTheJob and dismisses questions about his sexuality as unimportant.

'''Hundred:'''...Do you mind if I come inside? ''(he goes in, [[DoorClosesEnding the door closes.]] [[TheUnReveal End of issue]])''
* A somewhat unintentional example in ''ComicBook/TheGoodAsian''. When rich heiress Victoria Carroway first began hanging out in San Francisco's Chinatown, attending some of the local clubs and such, she became friends with Chinatown's golden boy and CrusadingLawyer Terrence Chang. There was an attempt on her part at a RelationshipUpgrade, but Chang is gay. The two remained friends and business partners, however, with Chang helping to direct Victoria and her family's investments in Chinatown and she also bankrolled his legal efforts to win greater civil rights and recognition for Chinese-Americans. As a result they were seen so often together that it was rumored they were together, and a man with a grudge tried to get proof so he could {{Blackmail}} them, as the story is set in the 1930s and an interracial relationship between two people of their social standing would be a scandal. The blackmailer soon gets pictures of Chang with another man instead, and Victoria is one of the people who pays to help keep him quiet.
* In ''Series/TheMuppetShow Comic Book'', Fozzie's mother is coming to visit. As she's under the impression that he's not only successful and the partner of a noted detective (because he told her so), she's bringing a girl with her, clearly intending to play matchmaker. Not wanting to be fixed up with some loser, Fozzie gets Skeeter to pretend to be his girlfriend. Then he meets the girl bear...
* There's a scene in the graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Shortcomings}}'' where Ben, the main character, has to act as this for his gay Korean friend Alice when they go meet her parents at church. he mentions that her family might not like the Japanese, but seeing her with a Japanese boy is better than seeing her with a Korean girl.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''
** Silk Spectre (the original one, not [[LegacyCharacter her daughter]]) is the beard for [[spoiler: Hooded Justice]], though only mentioned in the comics.
** Laurie was, in part, this for Dr. Manhattan. At that point he'd drifted too far into [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Blue And Orange]] (a)sexuality.

* ''Fanfic/TheAlarmaverse'': In ''Beauty Will Tear Us Apart]]'': Ditzy preemptively tries to fend off Trixie's unrequited affection by claiming that Time Turner is her boyfriend.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13295794/1/Alternative-Arrangements Alternative Arrangements]]'' Harry, who's gay, and Ginny, who's lesbian, get married so they can have kids and avoid societal criticism. Neville and Luna have the exact same relationship.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10506441/12/Arx-Domus-Nigrae Arx Domus Nigrae]]'' Harry claims he can't get back together with Ginny because he has a new girlfriend and ends up bringing Pansy to dinner as his pretend date.

* In ''Fanfic/BestKeptSecret'', Roy goes on dates with women to make it seem as if he's a womanizer. This is all to distract from his lieutenant Riza, who's secretly his wife.
* ''Fanfic/BluefursChoice'': Thrushpelt adopts Bluefur's kits as his own to avoid her Clanmates questioning her children's parentage.

* ''Fanfic/DoYouBelieveInFairies'': Kathy and Owen are each other's Beards. It started out unintentionally. They're ChildhoodFriends but everyone in town saw [[ChildhoodFriendRomance something more]], unaware that they're [[IncompatibleOrientation both gay]]. The duo just let everyone see them as a couple. This lasted until one day Kathy got upset about Owen's {{gayngst}}-driven [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]] and finally revealed to Renee that she has never been Owen's girlfriend.

* ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'' example: after rumor goes along the school of [[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya Kyon]] is engaged, most of the "unclaimed" girls of the SOS Brigade get one to prevent unwanted romantic attention: [[PseudoRomanticFriendship Haruhi and Kanae have each other]], while Mikuru has Shutaro. Ultimately, the trope gets ZigZagged as [[spoiler: all the aforementioned girls, Kyon's fiancee and Yuki are working together towards a MarryThemAll scenario with Kyon (with Shutaro being actually [[MasterOfDisguise Kyon in disguise]])]], meaning nobody is actually faking their relationship.

* In [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/146088 this]] ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' fanfic, Tony's grandmother left him a trust fund that he'll get access to when he turns forty, but only if he's been married for at least a year by then. He's starting to run out of time, so Gibbs offers to help him out. They get married, figuring they can get a divorce once the year is up and Tony gets his money. Naturally, they end up falling in love and stay married.

* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2163835/1/The_Refiners_Fire Refiner's Fire]]'', Harry asks Ginny to be his pretend girlfriend to keep away a crowd of... interested... schoolgirls. After a couple of weeks, he asks her out for real.

* Exaggerated in ''Fanfic/SilverRingsAndGoldenHearts''. James can't adopt Penny because adoption agency won't allow a single man to adopt a special needs child. To fix this, he asks his best friend Qrow to marry him and act as a husband.
* ''[[http://www.geocities.ws/jadeshand/ATangledWeb.htm The Tangled Web]]'' starts with Mara pretending to be Luke's girlfriend to keep away a FanGirl with a highly influential father. Luke lasts about a day before it becomes real.

* Exaggerated in the climax of ''WesternAnimation/KronksNewGroove'' when Kronk tries to impress his father by passing off Pacha's family as his own. [[spoiler:Things go awry when Tipo, trying to help, tells other people to pretend to be Kronk's family too. This leads to numerous "wives" and "children" running around.]]
* A major part of the plot of ''[[WebAnimation/QueerDuck Queer Duck: The Movie]]'' is that the titular character meets and bonds with an aging actress named Lola Buzzard. Lola eventually asks for Queer Duck to marry her. When Queer Duck points out that he isn't sure the marriage would work since he's gay, Lola responds that she doesn't mind because a lot of [[SerialSpouse her previous husbands]] were gay.

* In ''Film/{{Beginners}}'', the protagonist's mother was this to her husband until the day she died, after which her husband comes out of the closet.

%%* Being The Beard nearly gets Woody Allen's character killed in ''Film/BroadwayDannyRose''.
* ''Film/CantBuyMeLove'' seems to play this trope straight. The main character, an unpopular nerd, helps a popular girl. In return, she pretends to be his girlfriend, so he can become more popular. It works almost too well. However, [[spoiler: it subverts the trope when the girl falls in love with the nerd]]
* ''Film/Cursed2005'': It looks like Brooke was this to Bo, since he turns out to be gay. She doesn't really seem surprised at the end when it's made clear, so she might have been in on this.

* ''Film/FearStreet'': In ''Part One: 1994'' Sam's boyfriend is one for her, and she's concealed her attraction to Deena for some time.

* ''Film/GreenCard'' features this as the central concept. The main characters marry each other, the man in order to receive a green card to stay in the US, the woman in order to move into a desirable NY flat that is for married couples only.

* ''Film/INowPronounceYouChuckAndLarry'' (2007) features this trope as its central concept. Two men that aren't gay get gay-married for health insurance.
* ''Film/JustGoWithIt'' features ''Devlin''--former college AlphaBitch to Creator/JenniferAniston--taking a gay male to Hawaii to act as this for her. However, she does not put up the act to mask her sexuality, rather just to improve her social status. TheReveal of Devlin's charade is foreshadowed when, during the coconut game, they drop the coconut and he [[spoiler: [[AssShove picks it up with his ass]]]].
* At the beginning of ''Film/JustTheWayYouAre'', Susan is engaged to her gay friend Frank. They break up a few weeks before the wedding when he finds her with another man and they realize they won't be able to satisfy each other.
* An unusual example occurs in ''Film/LizzieBordensRevenge'', in that the beard is not a person but serves the same function. When Bobby confesses he is gay, an exasperated Dee asks him why he runs a sleazy website that sexualizes women. Bobby explains that it is to stop his mother from finding out. Apparently she is fine with him being a pervert, so long as it is women he is lusting after. Dee then describes his website as being "his beard".
* ''Film/LovingAnnabelle'': Ms. Bradley's boyfriend may be hers, though her sexuality is unclear.

* ''Film/OutAtTheWedding'' is about a woman who pretends to be a lesbian because she's afraid her family will be racist towards her black boyfriend. [[spoiler:Her recently married sister happens to fall for her pretend-girlfriend. It turns out her husband was a Beard and she [[{{Gayngst}} was in denial]] about being gay]].
* ''Film/{{Philomena}}'': Marcia acted as one for Michael.
* Creator/JenniferAniston played the trope in the movie ''Film/PicturePerfect'', in which her character seeks both a promotion and the affections of a man who is only attracted to women who are taken.
* ''Film/PrettyWoman''. Edward hires Vivian to pretend to be his girlfriend for social purposes.
* The movie ''Film/TheProposal'' features an ambitious Canadian publisher (Margaret Tate) who is about to be deported (and lose her job). She pressures her straight male subordinate to temporarily marry her so she can stay in the US. His parents find out and insist on having the wedding in Alaska. HilarityEnsues.
* ''Film/RussianDolls,'' the sequel to ''Film/TheSpanishApartment'', has Xavier convincing his lesbian best friend Isabelle to masquerade as his girlfriend for his grandfather, as Xavier is worried his grandfather will die before he finds someone to be in a relationship with. Isabelle is incredibly grumpy through the whole thing (mostly because she has to wear a dress) and [[spoiler: forces Xavier to wear the dress as well as makeup, referring to him as "my wife" for the rest of the night]] as payback
* ''Film/SweetSmellOfSuccess'': Senator Harvey Walker, press agent Manny Davis and his date Linda James are out having dinner with media mogul J.J. Hunsecker. Or at least, Linda claims to be Manny's date, but Hunsecker isn't fooled.
-->'''Hunsecker:''' But why furnish your enemies with ammunition? You're a family man. Someday, with God willing, you may wanna be President. Now here you are, Harvey, out in the open where any hep person knows that this one...''[points at Manny Davis]''... is toting THAT one...''[points at Linda James]'' [[TheMistress around for you]]."
* ''Film/UncleFrank'': Charlotte, a female friend of Frank's, pretends to be his girlfriend, along with his partner Wally's, so their families won't know that they're really gay.
* ''Film/TheWeddingBanquet''. A gay Taiwanese-American landowner marries one of his tenants so that she can get a green card and his parents will stop matchmaking for him. HilarityEnsues.
* ''Film/TheWeddingDate'' is based entirely on a twist of this trope - the main character hires a male escort to take to her sister's wedding (where her ex-fiance is the best man). She ends up [[spoiler: falling for the escort, realizing what a jerk the ex is, and patching up the relationship with her sister.]] Aren't romantic comedies great?
* And again for Creator/JenniferAniston in ''Film/WereTheMillers'', this time playing a just-fired and freshly evicted aging stripper, who is recruited by her JerkAss ManChild petty dealer neighbour to play the mom in a beard family for smuggling purposes. Forced to bring an RV brimming with contraband marijuana across the Mexican border as a last chance to clear a debt that he might otherwise not survive, the juvenile middle-aged slacker must improvise, fast, and decides his last chance is to assemble a fake family of similar local misfits and failures, impersonating the very picture of squeaky-clean Americana that would never get a second look from customs and law enforcement, and thus hide in plain sight. The roster is filled out with a homeless runaway from their block and the alcoholic neighbor's neglected awkward geek son. Starting out with mutual disgust and distrust all around, the ragtag bunch is forced to method act to maintain their cover, and in the process of enacting the silliest cliches they can come up with, grow more and more attached to the lie... Which turns out to be everything that had been so very lacking from the real lives of these four embittered and lonely losers.

* Rosa and Sammy in ''Literature/TheAmazingAdventuresOfKavalierAndClay'' get married in 1941 for a double-purpose: Rosa is pregnant by another man, who had then run off (for an unrelated reason), and so needs a husband, and Sammy is secretly gay.

* In ''Literature/BloodyJack'''s ''The Wake Of The Lorelei Lee'', the titular ship is taking a group of female convicts to Australia. Since they have a cool captain, the crew of the ''Lorelei Lee'' are allowed to get married to the prisoners, if the women agree. Pretty much everyone on board likes this idea, so they all pair off... except for Jacky, who is [[CatchPhrase promised to another]], and [[spoiler:Higgins, because he's gay]]. The two of them act as the beard for each other.
* In ''Literature/BoyMeetsBoy'', Tony's parents think Joni and Paul are dating so their gay son came hang out with them while safely not realizing Tony is hanging out with another single gay boy as friends.

** Lady Zellen is unhappy that her husband hasn't slept with her since their second son was born.[[note]]A traditional practice in the British aristocracy when marriages were arranged rather than due to mutual attraction, the traditional phrase was that one should make sure to create "an heir and a spare"[[/note]] Clorinda persuades him to confess to her that he's gay, and then finds a boyfriend for her.

* Used in Creator/GeorgetteHeyer's ''Literature/{{Cotillion}}'': Kitty persuades her cousin Freddy to pretend to be her fiancé in an OperationJealousy. Later, she pretends to be flirting with her other cousin, Dolph, in order to cover up Dolph's love affair with another woman.

* Inverted in ''[[Literature/NurseryCrime The Fourth Bear]]'': a prominent gay-rights MP confesses that his same-sex relationship is a lie, and [[ComingStraightStory he's actually straight]], but his partner knows the truth.
* ''Literature/GirlsDontHit'': Unbeknownst to him, Joss married Colin solely for a "normal" cover in her job-she's actually a lesbian.
* Played with in ''Literature/GoodBehaviour'', as Aroon seems to believe that Richard truly does love her, but their relationship only develops when Aroon's father begins to get suspicious of Richard's [[AmbiguouslyGay close relationship]] with Hubert.

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': As part of her work with the Corellian Resistance, Bria serves as this to Moff Sarn Shild (under a false name), since his sexual tastes aren't for human females (it is implied he likes members of other species, which the [[FantasticRacism speciesist]] Empire he serves wouldn't tolerate).
* ''Literature/InCryptid'': When Gwendolyn Brandt comes to Buckley and announces to Thomas [[MyBiologicalClockIsTicking her intention to marry and have a child with him]], [[CuteGhostGirl Mary]] pretends to be his wife to get her to leave. Unfortunately, Alice (who's Mary's closest friend and has a crush on Thomas) comes along just as they're kissing to prove their "love" to Gwendolyn, and doesn't realize it's pretend. Thomas can't tell her it's NotWhatItLooksLike since he has to maintain the deception in front of Gwendolyn.

* [[spoiler: Mr Rochester]] in ''Literature/JaneEyre'' pretends to be in love with [[spoiler: Blanche Ingram]] so that Jane would "fall as madly in love with him as he was with her".

* In Jasmine Cresswell's ''Literature/LoveForHire'' the main character made up an imaginary boyfriend to avoid her mother's concern about her love life. Faced with being forced to produce said boyfriend as an escort to her unrequited love's wedding to her sister, she told a regular customer at the bakery she owned that she'd pay him for agreeing to play the role.
* In the Literature/MaryRussell novel ''Justice Hall'', Marsh and Iris are both gay, and knowingly got married to each other to conform to early-twentieth-century social mores. They were already great friends, and both kept long-term same-sex partners throughout the marriage with the knowledge of many sympathetic friends and relatives. [[spoiler:Although they did have sex a couple of times, which ends up as a [[LawOfInverseFertility plot point.]]]]
* Prince Geordo of ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' originally got engaged to Katarina mostly to avoid the hassle of people trying to use him in politics. Both he and Katarina were originally game characters and he wasn't interested in her at all, finding her stupid and annoying while pretending to cherish her. However, after a girl who has already played this game reincarnates as Katarina, she manages to utterly charm him while now she isn't interested in the slightest since she knows he's secretly a jerk as well as having met him when he was just a kid from her perspective. When she tries to call off the engagement later by pointing out the reason for it[[note]]he accidentally scarred her forehead[[/note]] was no longer meaningful, he refuses. She assumes he's still just using her to avoid unwanted suitors because she's still a total moron who can't take a hint.
* [[CampGay Willoughby Martin]] from ''Literature/NakedCameTheStranger'' has had sex with men who have married to fool the straight world, but he finds them unsatisfying. With their phony marriages and secret lives, he finds them more pitiable than sexy.
* In ''Literature/OlgaDiesDreaming'', after being elected to City Council, Prieto is approached by the Selby brothers, economic developers who let Prieto know they know [[ClosetGay he is in the closet]] that his neighborhood would not want to be represented by a gay man. Afterwards, he is desperate for a cover and for distance between his real self and his public life. He marries a nice woman from the neighborhood and becomes a father. [[spoiler:It doesn't work too well as a cover with his family]].
* Played less idyllically with Lord John and Bree from the later ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' books. She's pregnant. He's gay, and a good many years her senior, as well as close friends with her dad. Considering the time period, it's not the unhappiest of matches-- they get on pretty well after a while-- but she doesn't seem to see him as much more than a human shield to cover up being vastly preggo. (Her way of persuading him to declare their engagement? Threaten to publicly out him. Which would mean public disgrace and ''death''. Nobody said she wasn't a bitch.) [[spoiler: Naturally, this doesn't last. She gets her man, and... well, he doesn't die. And that's good. Right? Don't worry. She gets... better-ish.]]
* Raoul and Buri's RelationshipUpgrade in the ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' books comes after he got her to accompany him to a party in order to dissuade matchmaking mothers, and then OneThingLedToAnother...

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Margaery Tyrell is The Beard for Renly Baratheon, who is more interested in [[SettleForSibling her brother Loras]]. It's something of an [[TransparentCloset open secret]] that Renly and Loras are lovers, but Renly's supporters don't seem to mind as long as he's not too gay to father an heir on Margaery. The ruse is so transparent that no one finds it surprising or worthy of suspicion when Margaery (truthfully, so far as the reader can tell) claims that their marriage [[SexlessMarriage was never consummated]].
* In his backstory, Titan from ''Literature/SuperPowereds'' was married with children, and when his orientation was discovered it created a massive scandal that drove him from the public eye for a decade. He returns in ''Literature/{{Corpies}}'', where he finally decides to get back into things and repair his image.
* ''Literature/TarotMysteries'': After meeting Clarice's boyfriend, Alanis figures out that he's gay and she's serving as his beard for his parents sake. [[spoiler: Turns out that she's a lesbian, and he's also serving as ''her'' beard]].
* In the novel ''Literature/ThronesDominations'', the "boyfriend" of a missing actress tells Literature/LordPeterWimsey that their relationship is only friendly; she dates him to scare off an unpleasantly lecherous colleague, and he dates her because it makes him appear straight.
* In ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'', Krulcifer asks Lux to pretend to be her boyfriend for a week, in order to fool a butler from her family who's coming to pressure her about political marriage. This proves unnecessary when the man that Krulcifer was being pressured into marrying is arrested for various crimes - and, in the same incident, Lux is deemed an acceptable partner.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'':
** In order to make his ex-wife jealous, Jack has Liz pretend to be his girlfriend. This, of course, in an early episode where there was UST.
** In another episode, James Franco hires Jenna to be his beard for the tabloids, in order to throw off rumors that he's in a relationship with an anime body pillow.
** Wesley Snipes also tries to get Liz to marry him so that he can remain in the U.S.
* ''Series/AllyMcBeal'': Ally and Elaine kiss to make a man persistently asking Ally out think that she's a lesbian.
* Victor and Albert from ''Series/AnotherPeriod'' are obviously in a relationship with each other, but are married to two of the Bellacourt sisters. They have several kids with their wives, but only have sex when required and aren't romantically in love. Beatrice, Albert's wife, is in love with [[BrotherSisterIncest her brother]] anyway.
* ''Series/Batwoman2019'': Tyler was unknowingly one for his wife Sophie. He later realizes she never loved him. Sophie later admits it herself. It seems that she was trying to convince herself of being straight through marrying him (though she does show fondness for Tyler).

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
** Used when Penny's dad came to visit. He hadn't met Leonard before but was apparently very approving of Penny dating someone with an advanced degree and a steady job (she's known for dating stupid delinquents) and was disappointed that they had broken up. To get him off her back she recruited Leonard to pose as though they got back together, which Leonard found to be hilarious (she was the one to break up the relationship) and took the opportunity to not only bond with her dad but also make out with her and generally do sugary couple-like things.
** Sheldon had his own situation with [[DistaffCounterpart Amy Farrah Fowler]], who asked him to meet her mother (both are generally UsefulNotes/{{asexual}} and [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend dislike being treated as a couple]]). He took it as an implication that she considered them to be dating and the idea terrified him. When he finally discussed things with her she explained that her mother was overbearing and wanted her to have a love life, so Sheldon was to fulfill that role. Upon meeting her mother, they frequently talked about how much [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday sex they have together]].
** In "The Transporter Malfunction", Raj goes on a blind date with a girl his parents found for him. Things seem to be going well, until she reveals that she is a lesbian and thinks that since Raj is also gay they should get married so they can get their strict Indian parents off their backs. Raj indignantly says that he is not gay, but considers actually getting married to her because he thinks he will never get married otherwise.

* The Denny and Alan's marriage in ''Series/BostonLegal''. Whilst there is no doubt they are not in a physical gay relationship, there are multiple reasons to pretend that they are: to keep Denny's estate from being devoured by the government when he dies; to give Alan SpousalPrivilege, meaning that anything Denny tells Alan can remain secret/private as Alan cannot then be forced to reveal it in court; and [[spoiler:Denny has started to suffer the effects of Alzheimer's disease, and Alan is the only person he trusts to care for him when Denny is no longer capable of looking after himself.]]
* There was a second-season episode of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' called "The Beard". Shawn can't choose between two girls, so while he goes out with one of them, he recruits Cory to "sit on" the other, lest he should change his mind. The girls are none too happy about this [[BatmanGambit stunt]], and their schoolmates loudly proclaim them to be "[[JerkAss scum]]".

* A secondary character in ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'' is a gay nobleman who is married to a woman. She's aware of his sexuality and that he's in love with another man, but goes along with it for the freedom and status that being a married woman grants her, and because he doesn't mind her having lovers of her own. She has a brief affair with Beckett, who is massively uncomfortable when her husband tries to have a freindly chat with him about it.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Buffy and Willow both play the beard for Xander in one scene in "Teacher's Pet" in order to protect his ego.
** In Season 4's "Fear Itself" Buffy says "He wanted the candy, I was just the beard." with regards to her Father taking her trick or treating on Halloween.

* Similarly to the Buffy example above, ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is dismayed when his daughter stops wanting to trick-or-treat with him. "But you have to come with me. You are my candy-beard!"
* In the final episode of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Sam recruits Rebecca to act as this for his meeting with Diane. Diane, meanwhile, brings another man with her to the meeting. It all falls apart when Rebecca's estranged boyfriend comes back and proposes to her, followed by Diane's date's boyfriend arriving to reclaim him ''from Sam''.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' and Sarah's relationship began as a pretense. In a third season episode, this and the actual sexual tension between them was lampshaded, by having Chuck and [[spoiler: Morgan]] discuss it after [[spoiler: the latter found out Chuck was a spy and that the entire relationship was a cover]]. The episode was fittingly named "Chuck Versus the Beard", a play on Morgan's impressive facial hair, as the episode's plot focused on the rift Chuck's spy life was creating in his friendship with Morgan.

* In ''Series/{{Claws}}'', Ana is with her parents, in a bad mouth and outs her brother as gay. When her parents are okay, Ana snaps they turned on her when she came out. Her mother responds that they "turned" on Ana because she went to jail and "who cares if you're gay? I'm gay! Your father's gay!" As the pair stare, their parents explain that they've been each other's beards for years because of their families. "You really think Lucia is your aunt?"

* In ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', Patrick's [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter constantly one-upping]] co-worker was showing up with his wife and Patrick had to [[MaintainTheLie keep up the façade]] that he was married to a real looker. He recruits Sally to be his beard, but when the co-worker's supermodel wife shows up, Patrick throws Sally over for Susan. A humiliated Sally gets Susan's boyfriend Steve to be ''her'' beard, until it's too much for all of them and Steve proposes to Susan in front of everyone - and Patrick couldn't be happier for them. ''[[FawltyTowersPlot *phew*]]''

** Anya was unknowingly Riley's beard, and then Fiona took the job when she figured Riley was gay.
* In ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', Susan's boyfriend Jackson comes back to ask her to marry him so that he won't be deported back to Canada. It doesn't work, since [[spoiler:Dave called INS on Jackson when he realizes Jackson is a potential witness to his crime.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CiNSTimeCrash "Time Crash"]]: Played with when the Doctor discusses the latest appearance of the Master [[TheNthDoctor with himself]].
--->'''5th Doctor:''' Does he still have [[BeardOfEvil that rubbish beard?]]\\

** In [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor "The Time of the Doctor"]], Clara gets the Doctor to pretend to be her boyfriend for Christmas dinner with her family.
* One of the cases the titular character takes in ''Series/EliStone'' involves a Pakistani woman fighting not to be deported because she married a gay man in order to obtain a green card.
* ''Series/{{Empire}}'' has a few examples:

* In ''Series/TheFirstShopOfCoffeePrince'' Han Kyul hires Eun Chan to pretend to be his gay lover, so his mother will stop setting him up on dates with women.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
** The episode [[DoubleMeaningTitle "Out With Dad"]] has Martin [[FauxYay pretend to be gay]] to avoid having to double date with Frasier's date's mother. When she then tries to set him up with her ''uncle'', he grabs the nearest available beard to rebuff him - which just so happens to be Niles.
** "The Two Mrs. Cranes" has Daphne pretending to be married to Niles (to his delirious surprise), as an excuse to avoid reconnecting with an old boyfriend. And Frasier being married to Roz (as Maris), but that was just out of spite by Martin.
** There was a RunningGag throughout the series about Deb, who [[TheGhost never appeared on screen]], but was the [[CampGay very camp]] Gil Chesterton's [[ButchLesbian very butch]] wife.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': "The One in Massapequa" features Ross and Rachel pretending to be married to perpetuate a lie Ross's parents have told their friends. Naturally, this makes Ross and Rachel realize (''[[WillTheyOrWontThey yet again]]'') their feelings for each other.
** Phoebe married a gay ice dancer so he could stay in the country... though it later turned out he was actually straight or at least bi.
* Shows up in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' much more blatantly than the vague, scattered hints in the book version. Margaery Tyrell is this for King Renly Baratheon; he made her his Queen after he allies himself with House Tyrell. However, he is romantically involved with her brother Loras, and the three are perfectly happy with this arrangement.[[note]]Reportedly there were some who thought the show writers had invented this plot, but WordOfGod says that it was supposed to be obvious in the novel.[[/note]] The trope is later {{Deconstructed}} long after Renly's death when Margaery is questioned on why they never had children; she dances around the fact that his gayness made him unable to have sex with her.
* Subverted in ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow''; George and Angie discover that Carmen's boyfriend Noah is gay and is using her as a cover, but it turns out that Carmen is using ''him'' as ''her'' cover so that she can see [[{{Delinquents}} Zach Powers]] behind their backs.

** Sam dating [[ArmouredClosetGay Santana.]] Later, when she learns that Karofsky is as deep in the closet as her, she blackmails ''him'' into going to the prom with her as part of a scheme to get Kurt back and increase her standing with the rest of the club (specifically Brittany).
** In fact, all of Santana's heterosexual relationships - romantic and sexual (and there were many in the first two seasons), can be considered this, seeing how she defines herself (after coming out) as [[NoBisexuals strictly into women]], and expresses suspicion of bisexuals.

* ''Series/GrowingPains'':
** Mike and Carol did this in one episode; they both wanted to move out of their parents' house and pretended to be a married couple in order to rent a one-bedroom apartment, as it would be cheaper than a two-bedroom. Naturally, HilarityEnsues.
** Mike did it in one episode to impress everyone, bringing a gorgeous babe to his party claiming she was his girlfriend, who was all over him, kissing and cuddling with him at every opportunity. Later, he told Carol she was simply from his acting class and doing him a favor. (Doing a pretty good performance.)
* On the series finale of ''Series/HaltAndCatchFire'' Hailey brings home a boy named Kenny, who's clearly [[spoiler:gay]] himself and goes out to the movies with him, later Hailey says that she and Kenny broke up but Donna and Cameron [[KnewItAllAlong have already figured out]] that Hailey's a [[spoiler:lesbian]].
* On ''Series/TheHour'', this is the only reason [[spoiler:Ruth and Adam]] get engaged – so he can hide his homosexuality, which in the 1950s would have been a real problem for his career. He was actually told to marry her by his lover, [[spoiler:who happens to be Angus [=McCain=]]].

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** Known womanizer Barney Stinson was revealed to hire an actress to play the part of his wife... not to cheat or otherwise hurt anyone, but to fulfill a promise to his dying mother to get married. The actress went off script claiming to be pregnant. Then Mom got better. Barney even went to the extent of hiring a kid to play their son.
** Earlier on in the series, Lily pretended to be Barney's wife so his one-night stands would leave in the morning and never bother him again.
** Barney also pretends to be in a relationship with Patrice as part of his [[ZanyScheme playbook move]] of proposing to Robin.
* In one episode of ''Series/ICarly'' a minor character asks Carly to be his girlfriend. The dialogue seems to imply this, by making it because his mother doesn't believe him about something regarding girls or a girlfriend.

* ''Series/JustShootMe'': In "Mayas and Tigers and Deans Oh My" Nina's magician boyfriend sure ''seems'' to be gay, and she's happy being his beard because he's very nice, glamorous and rich. [[SubvertedTrope However]], it turns out that [[MistakenForGay he's actually straight]]-it's [[CampStraight just his persona]].
* ''Series/KateAndAllie'':
** In an early episode, the titular characters acted as beards... for each other! They pretended to be a lesbian couple to avoid having their rent increased (as two divorced mothers with kids, they were considered to be two separate families).
** In a later episode, Kate was hired to portray the wife of a client to help him get promoted. She ended up falling for his co-worker.
* In an episode of ''Series/KimsConvenience'', Omar lies to his traditionalist family and tells them Shannon's his girlfriend, to get them off his back about finding someone (Shannon had encouraged him to lie to them, she just didn't think he'd use her as his fake girlfriend). She comes clean when his grandmother tries to make them kiss, which results in his whole family hating her (and his grandma apparently putting a curse on her).
* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' had a woman accidentally find out that she was this for her boyfriend, a closeted NFL star. She was decidedly pissed about it.

** The VictimOfTheWeek of a much later episode is an MMA fighter who is quickly revealed to be gay and preparing to come out. When the detectives question his wife she reveals that she knows he's gay and has known for years. They've been best friends since childhood and started "dating" in high school because he was afraid of coming out in the small midwestern town they grew up in. The actual attacker turns out to be his boyfriend[=/=]trainer, who was angry that he had no intentions of divorcing his wife even after he came out, because he loves her platonically even if he's not sexually attracted to her
* [[CampGay Herr Lipp]] from ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' is married to a woman, but the TransparentCloset he's in makes this a moot point.
* In Episode 9 of ''Series/{{Leonardo}}'', Lisa's mother arrives, wanting to bring her back to her ArrangedMarriage. Lisa claims to be married to Machiavelli.
-->'''Sofia''': Well, Niccolo, I can see how much you like my daughter. But if you think I'm stupid enough to be taken in by this charade, you've got another think coming.
* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' go undercover as honeymooners in a Metropolis hotel for a story. Hilarious considering the two did [[OfficialCouple get married later]].

* In the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Gets Married", Monk and Sharona pretend to be married in order to investigate a criminal at a marriage counseling retreat.

* This appears a few times in ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' due to laws against homosexuality in the period:

* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', it is very frequent for agents to pose as couples for one [[RuleOfSexy reason]] or [[RuleOfFunny another]].
* The sitcom ''Series/NedAndStacey'' had this as its primary plot. Though the couple, an advertising man who wants to get promoted and a woman who wants to live in a nice place, actually ''do'' marry to keep up the story.
* ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'': Invoked by Devi. She wants to use the evidently gay Jonah Sharpe for his reasonable levels of popularity, until she can get a straight boyfriend. The plan quickly falls through when she finds out that Paxton is in the same class as she is.
* ''Series/NoahsArc'': [[spoiler:Guy's fiancée is apparently unwittingly a Beard]].
* ''Occasional Wife'' (1966), a short-lived SituationComedy, was based on a "junior executive pretends to be married to get ahead in the company" variant of this trope.
* ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'': A story arc in Season 7 involves Angela dating a (state) senator whom Oscar believes to be gay. The implication is that the senator is using Angela as a Beard. Foolishly, Pam denies that this trope even exists. [[spoiler: Oscar is eventually proven correct, and he and the Senator begin an affair.]]
* In a later episode of ''Series/OneTreeHill'', a double beard occurs when Alex agrees to pose of Josh’s girlfriend so he won’t have his career ruined by being outed as gay, and he agrees to pose as her boyfriend so the media will pipe down about the sex tape of them that was released, which could ruin ''her'' career.
* ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'': Piscatella mentions that he brought one to his senior prom when he makes it clear to Chapman that flirting with him won't get her anything, since he's actually gay.
* Amanda from ''Series/PanAm'' seemed to be the perfect match for Teddy...until [[spoiler: she kisses Maggie on the lips]]. When Ted eventually finds out, she proposes that they get married anyway so that they can see the people they really want to see while still being married. Ted agonizes over it, but eventually calls it off [[spoiler: even when Amanda tries to get Laura, who she correctly deduces has a mutual crush with Ted, to be Ted's mistress]]. However, [[spoiler: then Amanda tells Ted she's pregnant...]]

* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'': "Grandma Matchmaker" in which Ashley asks Carlos to pretend to be her boyfriend in order to get her granny to stop smothering her.
* ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'':
** Ben was this to Emily. She was never attracted to him, but continues to go out with him (and lets him tell everyone they're having sex, though they aren't), to give her straight bravado credibility.
** A non-LGBT related example from the series had Mona and Caleb. In order to make A (then thought to be Melissa) think Mona broke up Hanna and Caleb as she was told, the two then make out in public for Melissa to see. [[spoiler: The whole thing turned out to be useless, seeing how Mona was A all along. She tricked Hanna and Caleb into allowing the kiss to happen, being admittedly jealous of Hanna's relationship with Caleb]].
* In one episode of ''[[Film/BadlyDrawnRoy ROY]]'', Roy grabs a random girl and claims she's his cousin Sophie to disguise the fact that he went to see a kiddie film.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The Beard"]], Elaine becomes the beard for a gay man that she ends up falling for.

* ''Series/TheSentinel'':
** Jim and Megan pretend to be a married couple to go undercover, claiming that Blair is Jim's nephew. It would have been more convincing if Jim and Blair had pretended to be the couple.
** Another episode had Jim claim to be married while undercover to fend off an advance from a thief. This let to some funny moments when Blair phoned Jim minutes later and Jim dropped affectionate terms like "sugar" and "honey" into the conversation.

* There's a ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode where Lois and Clark pull this to catch a serial killer whose MO is killing fiancés.

* ''Series/{{Spaced}}'' used this - the two main characters wanted a flat, but had to pretend to be a couple to get it. [[spoiler:It later transpires that the "Professional Couples Only" line in the flat's advertisement was an error inserted by the person working at the paper, and that the whole deception was unnecessary. Unfortunately, this is only revealed after the landlady uncovers the lie, and is deeply hurt by it.]]
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. In "Rejoined", Jadzia Dax wants an excuse to have dinner with her ex-partner (in a previous host) Lenara Kahn, but as this is [[DiscountLesbians against the norms of Trill society]] she ropes in Julian Bashir to maintain the pretext that she was actually having dinner with him and invited Lenara to join them. Cut to Bashir looking bored as the two happily chat away, ignoring him the whole time until he's called away for a medical emergency. After he leaves, Lenara notes what a good friend he must be to Dax to put up with that. Unfortunately with Bashir gone they start HoldingHands which is seen by another Trill.

* ''Series/ThreesCompany'':
** Jack pretended to be Janet's husband twice, once to please her parents and another time to placate Chrissy's father. He also pretended to be Terri's husband to help her get a promotion and ward off the advances of her lecherous boss.
** The whole premise of the series is an inversion: Jack is wearing a fake shave, so to speak.

* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Inverted in "Donut Run", in which it is vital to Veronica and Duncan's ploy that the FBI believe they have broken up.

* ''Series/WhosTheBoss'':
** One episode had Tony Danza and the woman he was housekeeping for switching between pretending to be married for one person and trying to prove they weren't married for another.
** In "Mrs. Al", recurring character Al is searching for a new apartment. The one good place he finds won't rent to singles, so Samantha agrees to pretend to be his wife. Of course, as the landlord had already met her, she invokes WigDressAccent to act as a DumbBlonde wife named Candy.
* ''Series/WhyWomenKill'': Simone learns she was unknowingly serving as one to her husband, Karl, who's a closeted gay man.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'', Adam meets a beautiful young woman who asks him to a wedding as her date. It all seems too good to be true and at the end Adam begins to believe she may be his true love, but when they get to the wedding, it turns out the whole relationship was a sham. The girl was a lesbian, and wanted to make a point to her disapproving father by dating the schlubbiest, most obnoxious ManChild she could find, so that the prospect of going out with another girl would seem much better by comparison.

* Done twice for laughs in ''Series/{{Zoey 101}}''. In the second season Zoey helps Chase to get rid of the titular "Bad Girl". In the series finale [[spoiler: Logan and Quinn]] set each other op with terrible dates for the prom because they want to keep hiding their relationship.

* Referenced in [[Music/TheDivineComedy The Divine Comedy's]] song ''Diva Lady'':

* "Gay Boyfriend" by Music/GarfunkelAndOates is, as one might imagine, sung from the perspective of the beard.

* "Girls/Girls/Boys" by Music/PanicAtTheDisco is told from the perspective of a man who is a woman's Beard.

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* After Matt Taven was effectively replaced by Wrestling/JayLethal in The House Of Truth, Seleziya Sparx added to his humiliation by revealing every woman Taven had been seen with in Wrestling/RingOfHonor up to that point had been recruited by her to ensure [[CasanovaWannabe Taven]] didn't look out of place in HOT, where everyone else had no trouble getting boy/girlfriends. Ironically Sparx bascially had a FriendlessBackground prior to the HOT and [[PowerStable the group]] would [[DarkerAndEdgier drop]] its hedonistic party image as Lethal became it's most popular member.[[/folder]]

* Played with at the end of the musical ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''. Reno Sweeney dresses up as a Chinese woman and pretends to have had Lord Evelyn Oakleigh's lovechild, so that he can break his engagement with Miss Hope Harcourt (who is in love with Reno's best friend, Billy Crocker). Reno and Evelyn do eventually get married (in a double wedding with Billy and Hope), which possibly subverts this trope. But Reno was in love with Lord Oakleigh before she agreed to play the abandoned lover. It was the reason she agreed to do it in the first place.
* In ''Theatre/CactusFlower'', Julian wants to marry Toni, but he's already told her that he has a wife and three children. Toni, not wanting to be the homewrecking kind, insists on meeting the wife before Julian divorces her. So Julian convinces his nurse, Stephanie Dickinson, to pretend to be Mrs. Julian Winston.
* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': Viscount de Valvert is willing to marry Roxane so Count De Guiche will bully her to be his [[TheMistress mistress]]. Lampshaded by Cyrano at Act II Scene VI:
--> '''Cyrano:''' Ay! Husband!—dupe-husband!... Husband a la mode!
* At the end of ''Theatre/TheLittleDogLaughed'', [[spoiler:Mitchell marries Ellen in order to maintain his facade as a straight man]].
* In ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'', Tranio, a servant disguised as his master Lucentio, publicly courts and becomes engaged to Bianca Minola to get her other suitors out of the way. Meanwhile, the real Lucentio, disguised as Bianca's tutor, is privately winning her heart and arranging an elopement.

* Depending on the player's characterization, the spouse of the protagonist in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' could potentially fall into this realm. Unlike the past games in the series where the protagonist's origins are only vaguely framed ("Vault Dweller", "Tribal", or "Courier"), Fallout 4 establishes that the protagonist is in a heterosexual marriage and has a son, meaning that anyone wishing to play their character as homosexual would likely rely on this trope. Of course, given that the game takes place in a 2077 that has the social sensibilities of 1950s America, it makes sense that homosexual people might "fake" being straight to avoid ridicule.[[note]]Though one scene during the chaos of trying to find cover from the impending bombs is an apparently lesbian couple (and an interracial couple) embracing in their final moments, possibly hinting that not ''all'' the social sensibilities of the 50's carried over.[[/note]]

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', [[CanonName Yu Narukami]] acts as Rise's beard as part of her Social Link. She doesn't want to go back to being a pop idol, and, to that end, she claims the protagonist is her fiancé. Of course, considering how much a ChickMagnet the typical ''Persona'' protagonist can be, it can become a reality at the end of her link.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' two men in Roaring Heights are romantically involved despite one of them being married. Ironically Mark's wife is ''also'' in love with a woman and neither know of their partners sexuality.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'', Guybrush and Morgan [=LeFlay=] have to do this in order to convince Coronado De Cava that Guybrush is not trying to steal his lover, the Voodoo Lady, away from him. De Cava is a little unhinged from being stuck in a giant manatee for a long time.

* Junichi in ''VisualNovel/DaCapo'' acts as Mako's beard to help her get rid of an unwanted female admirer. While the motive is genuine, the very first day of acting she's already feeling awkward and begins to treat it more and more as though they were really going out.
* In ''VisualNovel/KissedByTheBaddestBidder'', Eisuke can't directly reject Carolina Bucci's extremely ardent and determined pursuit of him because offending her will sour his business relationship with her father's [[TheMafia Mafia]] family. He therefore decides to have the protagonist pose as his girlfriend, claiming to have fallen deeply in love with her in order to convince Carolina that there's no chance of winning him over.
* This trope forms the basic premise of ''VisualNovel/MyForgedWedding'', a RomanceGame in which the protagonist must, for various reasons, pretend to be the fiancee or wife of one of six attractive men. Since it's a romance game, it goes without saying that the feigned relationship soon becomes more real than they'd intended.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Moxxie’s father Crimson accuses Millie of being this as he just thinks Moxxie is gay. Moxxie then clarifies to his father that he’s bisexual.

* In the second season of ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'', Than dates Brittnay in an attempt to prove he's straight. The two actually have a decent amount in common and he does make an effort to be a good boyfriend, but it's very clear he isn't interested in her sexually, despite his claims to the contrary. She eventually figures out what's going on, and breaks up with him.

* ConversationalTroping in a non-canon ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive NP'' [[https://www.elgoonishshive.com/egsnp/parable-103 strip]], in which [[ItMakesSenseInContext Susan]] goes to a video-game barber to get facial hair:

* Shanna from ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' pretends to be a ''closeted'' lesbian in high school, and starts calling her boyfriends "beards." Her friends [[TransparentCloset aren't fooled, and sometimes don't realize she's even ''trying'' to be a lesbian.]] Later, when she's no longer pretending to be closeted, she's still pretending to be a mundane, but she has started watching classic science fiction late at night. Katherine agrees to be Shanna's "beard," this time giving her an excuse to be with the fans she won't really admit she likes.
* Leslie Rudd has Kittie in ''Webcomic/FriendlyHostility'' might have started out this way, but it is a valid ship in its own right per WordOfGod, and Leslie/Kittie/Deringer can be read as a canon ship by the end of the series if the reader wants it to be.

* Rumisiel is Ash's beard on ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', to Ash's eternal annoyance. While it makes Ash's life easier because she doesn't have to deal with guys hitting on him because he is currently transformed into a girl, Rumi's presence has strained Ash's relationship with one of his best friends, netted her Rumi's angelic [[PsychoExGirlfriend ex-girlfriend as a psycho-stalker]], and forced her to be Rumi's beard for his brother, who CanNotTellALie and therefore isn't allowed to find out the real reason they are together.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Rain|2010}}'', Gavin [[https://rain.thecomicseries.com/comics/44 is this]] for Maria who is a lesbian.

** Denmark uses this trope [[http://satwcomic.com/denmark-s-gaydar here]].

* In ''Webcomic/SfeerTheory'', [[CampGay Luca]] is married and has a son. Considering the time period, it's rather expected. Also an ArrangedMarriage.

** Chirag is gay. His parents know that he's gay, [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow but don't know that HE knows that they know]]. Once his gay siblings came out of the closet his parents [[IWantGrandkids started nagging them to settle down and have kids]], so whenever they visit he has to convince a female friend to be his fake girlfriend so that he can pretend to still be in the closet, even though he's not. Got all that?

** Nina and Hom pretend to be a couple so [[spoiler:Sung Jyung doesn't find out Hom is gay]].

* {{Discussed}} in ''Webcomic/WildeLife:'' when Oscar agrees to go to a show with the openly-gay Eliza, Eliza's girlfriend Darcy refers to him as her "beard." The AltText likewise quips "Be the best beard you can be."

* LipstickLesbian Julia Gordon from ''Literature/DecadesOfDarkness'' has a husband who's gay himself. They even have a child together (it's set in the 19th century).
-->'''Brittnay:''' Look, Than, it's fine if you're gay. Just like it's fine if I'm famous now. We just can't date. Like, ever again.
* One of many running jokes in ''Website/SFDebris'' is that [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Harry Kim's]] various romantic interests are this, covering up his interest in [[HoYay Tom Paris]].
* In ''Webvideo/VampireReviews,'' [[VampireVannabe Maven]] is unamused by ''WesternAnimation/TheBatmanVsDracula'' naming Main/{{Dracula}}'s dead wife "[[Literature/{{Carmilla}} Carmilla Karnstein]]," because, [[LesbianVampire well, you know]].

* At SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', Bladedancer (once male, now female against his will) has a girlfriend, but accepts a date with Chain Lightning so no one will realize that Bladedancer likes other girls. Only problem? Chain Lightning really likes her, and she finds that she likes him. Fortunately for everyone, her girlfriend, Molly, does too, which lead to them adopting {{Polyamory}} and [[ComingOutStory going public with the relationships]].
* A bizarre version of this trope appears in the ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' full length episode of Zorc and Pals, when Zork (the giant, male, world-destroying god evil) pretends Bakura (who is arguably male) is his wife so that his mother will stop pestering him to get married. Hilarity ensues.

** In "Haylias," Stan tries to set Hayley up with the obviously-gay son of a senator. He can't see it, but she can and flatly refuses [[spoiler:until Stan {{Mind Control}}s her into doing it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': Shake and Meatwad make out in order to deceive the Marines into thinking that they're gay, the idea being that the "Don't ask don't tell" policy would save them from serving (the original idea was to just do the "YMCA Thing", but it didn't work.) Making out works.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', back in the 80's Charlotte was this to Herb, a closeted gay man in a time where public knowledge of his sexuality could (and eventually would) destroy his career. Upon realizing this, she left Hollywood.
* Cleveland's boss Mr. Waterman from ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' occupies a TransparentCloset but has a wife. In the first episode where she appeared, Mr. Waterman is putting together a Santa costume and calls for his beard, [[VisualPun at which point Mrs. Waterman appears...holding his Santa beard]].
%%* The "FakeOutMakeOut" from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''.
* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'':
** Spanky acts out a gay mariage with Xandir (who actually is) in hopes of getting free health insurance.
** And an episode where Xandir acts as Toots lover for her fat camp reunion.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' Sarmoti tells his girlfriend that he was raising Hunter himself so that she thinks Sarmoti cares about someone other than just himself.
* Done in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' in "A Flight to Remember", where Fry has to pretend to be the boyfriend of both Leela and Amy at the same time. Which he accomplishes by [[TaughtByTelevision drawing on his time watching]] ''Series/ThreesCompany''. In this case, Leela used Fry to keep Zapp Brannigan away from her, and Amy used him to deflect her parents' attempts to hook her up with any guy they could find [[IWantGrandkids as long as it resulted in grandkids]]. But then Leela [[BecomingTheMask started actually getting jealous when she saw Fry and Amy "together"]]...
* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', Doctor Vivian Porter's boyfriend Oliver was actually an android she created to accept credit for her ideas because people had trouble accepting that someone with supermodel looks could also be a genius. When the truth is revealed, Doctor James Possible immediately offers her a job.
* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' Dale's dad, Bug, tried to pull off the gay version of this trope when he was still in the closet. After Dale's wedding, Bug was flirting with an attractive Filipino caterer when Dale came into the room. He quickly grabbed, in his own words, "the nearest thing in a dress"--which happened to be the bride, Nancy. Twenty years of estrangement followed.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'', Pleakley tries to get out of an arranged marriage by pretending he's engaged to Nani ([[{{Squick}} ew]]). Made all the more difficult by the episode featuring a LivingLieDetector experiment.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', "Kiss Me, I'm Foreign," had Filburt [[DisguisedInDrag pretend to be Rocko's fiancée]] to keep the latter from [[CitizenshipMarriage being deported erroneously]].

** Homer and Selma had to fake marriage in order for Selma to be allowed to adopt a child from China. Apu and Marge did the same for Apu to get out of an ArrangedMarriage (which ultimately failed).

** Colonel Gentleman was married and had a daughter, Dr. Quinn but never showed any sexual interest in his wife and neither did she.

* Rock Hudson's three-year marriage to Phyllis Gates was done for this reason.

* [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/08/18/the-king-and-his-husband-the-gay-history-of-british-royals/ Many historians]] believe that Anne of Denmark was this for King James VI and I of Scotland and England who seemed much more interested in the company of his male favorites.

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'':

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': When Loid and Yor first meet, they agree to play the beard for the other: the latter needs a fake boyfriend to get her brother's friend and her coworkers off her back at a party, while the former needs someone who can pose as the mother of his (adopted) daughter Anya for a parent interview at Eden Academy. At the party, Loid has a slipup and says that he's Yor's ''husband'', and Yor decides it would be easier to keep the cover by legally marrying each other for real. As time goes by, however, [[BecomingTheMask they start acting more and more]] [[RomanticFakeRealTurn like a real family]].

* "Girls/Girls/Boys" by Panic! At The Disco is told from the perspective of a man who is a woman's Beard.

** "Can You Forgive Her?" is about a beard who finds out about the subject's sexuality and torments him about it. "She's made you some kind of laughing-stock/Because you dance to disco and you don't like rock/She made fun of you and even in bed/Said she was gonna go and get herself a real man instead"

* Similarly, ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is dismayed when his daughter stops wanting to trick-or-treat with him. "But you have to come with me. You are my candy-beard!"

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10506441/12/Arx-Domus-Nigrae Arx Domus Nigrae]]'' Harry claims that he can't get back together with Ginny because he has a new girlfriend and ends up bringing Pansy Parkinson to dinner as his pretend date.

* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4109630/1/Changing-of-the-Guard Changing of the Guard]]'' Harry runs a one-man company called Metamorphosis which provides a "perfect stranger" for whatever your needs might be. A good chunk of its business involves his pretending to be the man (or woman) in the lives of clients who prefer not to tell their families that they're gay or lesbian.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9800924/1/The-Printed-Press The Printed Press]]'' Draco Malfoy married Astoria Greengrass because he was gay, she was lesbian and both were being pressured by their families into marrying a "proper" pureblood of the opposite sex.