Film And TV
01 Nov 22

Heartstopper star Kit O'Connor 'forced' to 'out himself' as bisexual

<i>Heartstopper</i> star Kit O'Connor 'forced' to 'out himself' as bisexual

Heartstopper's Kit Connor as Nick (left) and Joe Locke as Charlie (right). Credit: Netflix.

The English actor who plays Nick Nelson in the queer Netflix drama had been accused of "queerbaiting".

18-year-old actor Kit Connor from Netflix's Heartstopper returned to Twitter briefly following a hiatus from the app to clear up public debates on his sexuality.

"back for a minute. 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," he wrote.

back for a minute. 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

— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) October 31, 2022

The English actor plays Nick Nelson in the hit queer teen-drama Hearstopper. His character struggles with understanding his sexuality as he finds himself interested in his friend Nick, played by Joe Locke.

Back in September, Connor was seen holding hands with actor Maia Reficco. This led to backlash on Twitter as users accused him of queerbaiting- the practice of pretending to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community for attention or engagement. He clapped back at these accusations, tweeting, "apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do..."

twitter is so funny man. apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do…

— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) May 2, 2022

Although Heartstopper has been praised for its queer representation, it seems as though many have "missed the point" as Connor said on Twitter.

Creator Alice Oseman shared her support for Connor and disapproval of the audience's behaviour. "I truly don't understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating and judging based on stereotypes. I hope all of those people are embarrassed as FUCK. Kit you are amazing," she wrote.

I truly don't understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes. I hope all those people are embarrassed as FUCK. Kit you are amazing 💖

— Alice Oseman Updates (@AliceOseman) October 31, 2022

Connor is now being flooded with support by his fellow cast mates, like Kizzy Edgell who said "I love u kit im sorry this has been so disgustingly rough on you."

Heartstopper has already been renewed for two new seasons on Netflix following its premiere in April 2022.

Revisit Hot Press' round-table interview with the cast here.