Is Sal from Impractical Jokers gay? His false coming-out story and real relationship explained

Sal Vulcano, the stand-up comedian with a knack for improvisation, is not only a member of the comedy troupe The Tenderloins but also a star of TruTV’s Impractical Jokers series. The comedy reality show, now going onto its tenth season, was formed around four lifelong friends and fellow members of The Tenderloins – Sal, James Murray, Brian Quinn, and Joe Gatto.

What sets the show apart from other prank television is that the cast members, or Jokers as they prefer to call themselves, are often the ones getting pranked as opposed to making clueless bystanders the butt of jokes. Despite his prankster and upbeat persona in the spotlight, Vulcano is a reserved individual in real life and prefers to keep his private life to himself.

In 2014, Sal Vulcano came out as gay in a comedy skit for the first episode of Jokers Wild, a spin-off of Impractical Jokers

On September 25, 2014, The Tenderloins aired the first episode of their Impractical Jokers spin-off series, Jokers Wild. The episode featured a talk show skit that guest-starred Sally Jessy Raphael, a known daytime talk show host from the 90s and early 2000s.

In the skit, Vulcano claimed to have a secret that had been ‘eating him alive’ and came out as gay to his friends in front of a shocked audience. A few moments later, James Murray also followed suit, saying:

“Seeing [Sal] be so courageous inspires me to confess something of my own. Fellows, I am gay too.”

The performance took another turn when Vulcano admitted that he was not in fact gay and the confession was a mere gimmick to draw his friend Murray out of the closet.

“It makes me feel great that my best friend James has come out of the closet. That is the reason I brought him here today. You see, I am not gay but I knew if I said I was gay, he would admit that he was gay,” Vulcano said.

However, the second half of the skit makes it clear that Murray was also faking his confession to lay the stage for additional improvisation and jokes. Yet, misinformation spread quickly among the casual viewers who thought that the elaborate prank for the spin-off show was a real episode of a talk show and assumed that Vulcano’s coming-out story was real.

It should thus be noted that Sal and James Murray are not gay in reality as they were simply playing it up for a performance. Moreover, Murray wed his fiancée Melyssa Davis on September 25, 2020.

Sal is allegedly married to his longtime partner and fiancée Francesca Muffaletto

Sal Vulcano is notoriously discreet about his personal life and has always managed to keep his relationship status out of the public eye. But on December 13, 2019, the news about his marriage broke on Tumblr.

A user wrote on the site that they had attended Vulcano’s live show in Boston the previous night and spotted a wedding band on his left hand. When asked about the ring, Vulcano allegedly admitted to being married to a woman named Francesca Muffaletto whom he had been dating for eight years.

“[Sal] was wearing a wedding ring and confirmed that he is now married. He said that he and Francesca have been seeing each other for about 8 years now and are very happy, he loves her – you can clearly tell in the way he talks about her,” it read.

Nevertheless, a few skeptic commenters argued that they had not witnessed a wedding band on Vulcano during the show and were of the view that he was single. Also, the fact that he did not acknowledge the rumors at the time and was not publicly dating anyone left the fans befuddled.

Sal Vulcano mentioned his fiancée for the first time on Robert Kelly’s podcast and said that she is “terrific”

In June 2019, Vulcano made an appearance on Robert Kelly’s You Know What Dude podcast where the topic of his fiancée was brought up for the first time on camera.

“Sal is just the nicest guy in the world, he is just the sweetest and your fiancée is nice too which never happens,” said Kelly.

Sal then spoke fondly about his fiancée, presumed to be Francesca, and replied that “she is terrific”. Similarly, fellow comedian Eleanor Kerrigan, who was also on the podcast, said that his fiancée “is an amazing dancer” as well.

Reports later emerged that the two finally got married on September 8, 2019, but it was never corroborated by any of the parties involved. So far, the only known reference made by Vulcano concerning his partner or the supposed marriage happened on June 5, 2020, when he tweeted:

“Honest question. For those of you in mixed political partnerships or marriages, what is your experience? What are some things you and your partner do to find common ground? Perhaps we can look to you as an example of how to find common ground. Please share.”