"Heartstopper" star Kit Connor has revealed he was "forced" to come out as bisexual.
The actor, who plays bisexual rugby player Nick Nelson in the hit Netflix show about two teenage boys who fall in love, made the revelation Oct. 31 on Twitter after a brief hiatus from the social media platform.
"Back for a minute," he wrote. "I'm bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye."
Connor was recently accused of "queerbaiting" after he was seen holding hands with Maia Reficco, his costar in the indie film "A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow." Some fans felt Connor should not be in the show if he was not openly LGBTQ+. Others took issue with the fact that he was holding hands with a girl while playing a character who dates a boy.
Shortly after posting his tweet, co-stars and "Heartstopper" creator Alice Oseman all hopped online to send messages of support.
"I truly don't understand how people can watch 'Heartstopper' and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes," Oseman wrote. "I hope all those people are embarrassed as f***. Kit, you are amazing."
Joe Locke, who plays Nick's boyfriend in the show, added: "You owe nothing to anyone. I'm so proud of you my friend."
The harassment Connor faced, which was most prevalent on Twitter, was enough to make the star speak out on the "Reign With Josh Smith."
"I just think that there's a danger with things on social media," he said recently. "In the cast, I'm 18, and we have a few people in their early 20s, and even with those older members of the cast, we're all so young, and to start speculating about our sexualities and maybe pressuring us to come out when maybe we're not ready.
"I mean, for me, I just feel like I'm perfectly confident and comfortable in my sexuality, but I'm not too big on labels and things like that. I'm not massive about that. And I don't feel like I need to label myself, especially not publicly.
"It's 2022, it feels a bit strange to make assumptions about a person's sexuality just based on hearing their voice or seeing their appearance. I feel like that's a very interesting, slightly problematic, sort of assumption to make."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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