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Heartstopper Stars Call Out ‘Gross’ Media Coverage of Their Love Lives
This comes less than a week after Kit Connor came out on Twitter.
Joe Locke and Kit Connor, stars of Netflix's hit coming-of-age TV drama Heartstopper, opened up about their lives, career, overnight fame, tabloids, sexuality, and social media in a glitzy new interview with GQ.
Heartstopper follows two British classmates, one just outed as gay and the other figuring out his budding bisexuality, as they fall in love, and all the drama that comes with reconfiguring who you are. Locke and Connor were shoved into the spotlight when the show premiered last April and become a massive success, boosting their Instagram followers from around 100,000 to 3-4 million in a weekend.
The two had to adjust to the fame quite quickly as well as juggle interrogations into their private lives. Just last week, Connor, who was spotted holding hands with a girl castmate this past summer, felt forced to out himself as bisexual to combat accusations that he was queerbaiting viewers. "Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself," he tweeted. "I think some of you missed the point of the show."
Before last week, Connor had quit Twitter altogether. GQ asked him about his exit. "Social media is not a window into my soul at all… so [it] was the best decision of my life,” he said. “In many ways it’s great, but as someone who’s in the public eye, if you look for people saying bad stuff about you, you’ll find it.” And the negativity was very obviously there. “You want to know what people are saying. Everyone wants to be liked, which is slightly heartbreaking when you’re in the position of someone like me or Joe.”
Locke reemphasized their desire for privacy, telling GQ that he has also felt the eyes on him from media and tabloids. “The idea of a tabloid being interested in a teenager’s love life is really gross,” he said. “Someone making money out of rumours about who I – an 18-year-old boy – might be liking or talking to, it’s really gross and perverted.” He concluded, “I’m 18… I don’t know who I am yet.”
Connor, whose sexuality was unknown until last week, also opened up about the importance of queer characters on TV and says the show “was for us and the representation we never had,” citing the cast and crew as inspirational. He also cites the TV show Skins and Willow and Tara’s relationship in Buffy The Vampire Slayer as landmarks in his queer adolescence.
Season 2 of Heartstopper is currently in production and we can't wait to see where the show – as well as these two bright stars – will go next.
RELATED | Here's Why Nick Nelson's Coming Out Story on Heartstopper Was Changed
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Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
