Kit Connor On His Coming Out Tweet & If He Has Regrets

Kit Connor is coming out... about his coming out.

The 19-year-old star of Heartstopper first came out in November 2022 on Twitter, but it wasn’t the joyous experience fans would have wanted for him.

The tweet followed months of accusations and discussion about whether or not the young actor was “queerbaiting” in his role as Nick on the hit gay romance.

“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 on the social media platform.

His co-stars and Heartstopper series showrunner Showrunner Alice Oseman immediately rallied around Connor, calling out a fanbase who pushed him out of the closet before he was entirely ready to open up. “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 tweeted. “I hope all those people are embarrassed as F---. Kit you are amazing,” wrote Oseman on Twitter.

Now Connor, who is getting ready for the premiere of the second season of the beloved series, is reflecting on that experience. Speaking with British Vogue, the actor shared that the discovery of his identity was a gradual one. “It was just a very natural process for me; I didn’t really have an ‘oh, s---’ moment. It just became more and more evident,” he explained.

Connor shared that, when he came out, his family also rallied around him, and was “super accepting and inclusive and wonderful.” However, that wasn’t the case in his all-boys school. “I was in a very heteronormative atmosphere,” he added. “It wasn’t hugely inclusive. It wasn’t really accepted in a lot of ways.”

Part of Connor’s journey was reckoning with the all-too-common narratives about bisexuality. “It’s the experience of maybe you’re too straight to be gay and you’re too gay to be straight,” he said. “So it’s like, ‘Where do I sit?’ But I feel much more secure in myself now.”

And as to his coming out, and how it all went down, his feelings were decidedly complicated. “I just felt like it wasn’t something I was ready to talk about. I wasn’t angry. I was just slightly disappointed by this reaction,” he said.

“I think there’s almost a feeling that because I’d been in the industry for a little while, there was almost this understanding that it’s like, ‘Oh, well, he can take it,” he continued. “I think ‘forced’ isn’t the right word I would use, but I would say that I would have preferred to do it another way. I also don’t know if I would have ever done it. But at the end of the day, I don’t regret it. In many ways, it was really empowering.”

While this isn’t what we want to see for any young person discovering their sexuality, everyone should have the right to come out when and how they see fit. However, we are happy to call him part of our family.