“Heartstopper” lead actor Kit Connor, who plays Nick Nelson, came out as bisexual on social media as a result of pressure from fans speculating about his sexuality following his appearance on the Netflix show.
“Congratulations for forcing an 18-year-old to go out on his own,” Connor wrote on Twitter. “I think some of you missed the point of the show.”
A Netflix representative did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Connor’s rep declined to comment.
Connor’s character Nick, along with Joe Locke’s Charlie Spring, leads the series adapted from Alice Osman’s graphic novels. When Nick meets Charlie, who is openly out and gay, he begins to question his own sexuality as the two grow closer and develop a tight bond.
Osman tweeted a responseSupporting Connor and mourning how the show’s message didn’t reach some fans.
“I really don’t understand how people can see Heartstopper and then happily spend their time speculating about sexuality and judging by stereotypes,” he wrote, “I hope all those people are embarrassed as F—Kit. You are amazing.”
Nick, who plays rugby, is a year above Charlie at school, but the two find themselves attracted to each other after meeting. Soon they became more than friends in the show’s first season, accentuated by cute cartoon touches that emphasize the first fluttering heartfelt feelings of a new crush.
EW. in an interview with, Connor said that once he had read all four volumes of the graphic novel, he knew the adaptation was something he wanted to pursue. He originally auditioned for the role of Charlie.
After the first season premiered on Netflix in April 2022, the show was renewed for two more seasons in May.
Connor has previously starred in the “His Dark Materials” television series, the older version of Reggie in “Rocketman” (2019), and as Eli Ramsey in “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” (2018).