"Kissing Couple" Reject Offers, Change Minds.

Report: Couple won't cash in on kiss
NewsCore

Updated Jun 19, 2011 4:55 AM ET

It was the smooch "worth $10 million," but the Romeo who stopped the globe with his kiss amid the Vancouver riots does not want to cash in on it, The (Sydney) Sunday Telegraph reported.

NHL riot kissing bandits
Yes, this really did happen. But there is much more to the story, as the couple explains in an exclusive interview.

Australian Scott Jones made worldwide headlines when he was photographed embracing his girlfriend, Canadian Alexandra Thomas, amid the chaos of Wednesday night's ice hockey riots in Vancouver.

Leading Aussie celebrity agent Max Markson said the global exposure was worth a potential AU$10 million (US$10.6 million), while public relations firm PPR Perth managing director Peter Harris said Jones could have cashed in on the "advertising equivalent of millions of dollars."

"It's a $10 million branding exercise. If you had something he could endorse it would be amazing," Markson said.

But Jones said he did not want the "extra stress," and Saturday turned down the offer of flights to New York to appear on "The Today Show" and "Good Morning America."

Instead the couple will follow through with holiday flights booked for California on Sunday before continuing on to Australia in the coming months.

"It's just too much," Jones said in his only interview, with CBC News Canada, of the talk show offers.

Violence in Vancouver

Photos: Chaos in the streets

"We just don't need the extra stress. We are totally booked up for the next three weeks. We have everything planned. We can't change anything."

Thomas added, "We're going on holiday. We've been looking forward to this for months. We're just going to go spend time together."

Freelance photographer Richard Lam took the photo of the couple lying on the road in an embrace amid the chaos, with Jones saying he was helping Thomas after she was knocked down amid the riot.

The riots were sparked by the Vancouver Canucks' loss in the decisive Game 7 of the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

The couple will be appearing on "The Today Show" this morning. What a difference a day an hour or two makes. I wonder what other examples of moral fortitude to which they'll vehemently cling... well for as long as they think other people are watching.