Australians are poking fun at how Tom Hanks eats his quarantine Vegemite

Last week, America's honorary uncle Tom Hanks announced he and his wife Rita Wilson had tested positive for the coronavirus, demonstrating that not even beloved celebrities are immune from the crisis. The pair are currently isolated at Gold Coast University Hospital in Queensland, Australia, where they had been doing pre-production on Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic.

They are fortunately in good spirits, with Hanks tweeting that their symptoms are relatively mild. However, hundreds of Australians are now worried about the actor for an entirely different reason.

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On Sunday, Hanks again expressed his gratitude for the Australian medical workers caring for him and Wilson during their isolation. "Thanks for the Helpers," he tweeted. "Let's take care of ourselves and each other."

Attached to the tweet was a photo of two pieces of toast smothered in Vegemite, with a bite taken out of one of them. It was a charming gesture of cross-cultural friendship from the American actor, a warm yet responsibly socially distant wave.

Yet it raised alarm among Australians, many reacting in horror to Hanks' innocently enthusiastic application of Vegemite.

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Vegemite is an iconic Australian spread made from yeast extract left over from the brewing process, because of course beer is involved.

Sadly, it seems there was nobody around to guide Hanks through his Vegemite encounter. While his bread appears toasted, not a smidge of butter can be seen. More importantly, he appears to have smothered enough Vegemite on his toast to tar a highway.

For the uninitiated, commonly accepted Vegemite convention dictates only a small smear of the paste should be applied to buttered toast. Vegemite is an extremely salty paste, and applying more than that typically lends to a sub-optimal experience.

No wonder there was only one bite taken out of it.

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Of course, a small minority of people saw absolutely nothing wrong with Hanks' liberal use of the Australian breakfast pitch. Do not listen to them. They do not have your best interests at heart.

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UPDATE: March 16, 2020, 5:13 p.m. AEDT Hanks' son Colin has now weighed in on the matter as well.

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