Sarah Michelle Gellar says 'steamy kiss' between Daphne and Velma was cut from Scooby Doo film

Actor Sarah Michelle Gellar has claimed in a recent interview that a 'steamy kiss' between Daphne and Velma was cut from the 2002 Scooby Doo film.

Gellar appeared in the now over 20-year-old film as Daphne alongside Freddie Prinze Jr, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Isla Fisher and Rowan Atkinson.

The reception for Scooby-Doo (2002) was a bit of a mixed bag from fans and industry critics, with it sitting at a 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes - essentially making it a non-recommendation in their eyes.

In a recent interview, Gellar claimed that the kids film was set to be 'less family-friendly' than you would come to expect from the Scooby-Doo franchise.

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Speaking on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Gellar was asked about a rumoured deleted scene that showed her and Linda Cardellini's character Velma 'having a relationship on the side'.

She said: "I don't know about a relationship on the side, but there was a steamy — I mean, I said it was steamy, but they probably didn't think it was — hence why it was cut."

Cohen then jumped in and asked: "There was a steamy, like, kiss?"

Gellar replied: "There was an actual kiss between Daphne and Velma that got cut."

The actor then said that Velma and Daphe were not the only characters that were set to have queer storylines in the film.

"There was a great line too that I’ll never forget.

"Daphne and Fred were having a fight and I yell at him, ‘That ascot makes you look gay!’ I slam the door [at him].

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"They cut that, too. I think that was the reason I signed onto the movie.

"It’s something everyone’s thought for a long time."

"There was also this implication about Fred being interested in both, you know, parties… and all that got cut."

In a now deleted Twitter thread, James Gunn, who wrote the 2002 film and its 2004 sequel, said that Velma was made 'explicitly gay' in his script.

He said: "In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script.

"But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)."

Velma was officially portrayed as a lesbian in last year's Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo, and the new HBO Max series Velma also depicts the character as queer.