PBSEw, cooties!
Yep, even posh British people were afraid of them back in the day. At least that's what Downton Abbey's historical expert Alistair Bruce says, which is why people on the PBS period drama rarely ever touch. (Ever noticed that?)
"I tell the actors not to touch each other," Bruce said in an interview with BBC Radio 2 Arts Show, according to The Telegraph. "I don't want any hugging, no physical contact; they just didn't do that in those days."
He continued, "The reason they didn't is because it wasn't that long before then that disease was spread so much more easily."
Mystery solved!
Bruce, who is also a Royal Commentator, stressed the importance of Downton being historically accurate, saying, "It is important getting the detail right and the pressure does increase. People long to find error."
Like the series' infamous "water bottle-gate," when a plastic water bottle was spotted in the background of a cast photo, spawning a new Internet meme in the process.
"We're only human," star Joanne Froggatt told E! News of the bottle blunder. "Things happen and you have to have a sense of humor about these things."