A new book alleges Family Feud contestants had to take herpes tests on set when Richard Dawson was hosting the famous game show in the ’70s and ’80s.

Kliph Nesteroff wrote about the bizarre rule in the recently published Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars. According to Nesteroff, the show began administering mouth examinations because Dawson often greeted female contestants with a kiss on the lips.

Behind the scenes, contestants were allegedly told to “undergo a mouth test with a magnifying glass from medical staff,” per Entertainment Weekly.

Nesteroff writes, “A contestant revealed that before her appearance, a Family Feud production assistant entered the dressing room with a magnifying glass and a cotton swab and said, ‘Okay, everybody line up for your herpes test.'”

The policy reportedly began after complaints started rolling in. Nesteroff writes that “several game show fans were repulsed” by Dawson’s actions.

In another instance, a letter sent to the Philadelphia Daily News expressed concern about the risks of Dawson’s actions.

“As a physician, I have wondered about the risks Richard Dawson takes in kissing every female contestant on Family Feud. The diseases that could be transmitted by promiscuous kissing are too long and too loathsome to recount here,” the letter reads. “Does Dawson or the producers take any caution to prevent infection? Are none of them informed?”

In 2010, Dawson said he began his unusual practice because he encountered one female contestant who was so nervous on the show she couldn’t name a green vegetable.

“I said, ‘I’m gonna do something that my mom would do to me whenever I had a problem of any kind,” he told the Television Academy. “And I kissed her on the cheek, and I said, ‘That’s for luck.’ And she said, ‘Asparagus.'” 

He added that ABC later told him he’s “gotta stop the kissing” after receiving complaints. But he claims he received many letters in support.

Dawson was the original host of the hit game show, which he helmed from 1976 to 1985 and again in the ’90s. He died in 2012 at the age of 79.