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Ted Lasso Introduces First LGBTQ+ Character In Its Third Season
A familiar character has been keeping a big secret.
With the third season underway, Ted Lasso has finally introduced its first LGBTQ+ character.
Wednesday’s episode of the popular Apple TV+ series, “4-5-1,” gave viewers an insight into the romantic life Colin (Billy Harris) has kept quiet from his teammates. The footballer introduces Michael (Luke Ashton) to the rest of the Richmond team as his friend, but everyone’s favorite horrible journalist, Trent Crimm (James Lance) eventually spots them kissing when they think nobody’s looking.
Colin isn’t a new character; he’s been with Ted Lasso from the very first episode. But while fans may have previously speculated that at least one of the players might be closeted, the only prior indication that it could be Colin an off-hand remark that indicated he was familiar with Grindr — not exactly a deep cut these days.
Co-creator Brendan Hunt, who also plays Coach Beard, told RadioTimes.com that they decided before season two that they wanted a gay player on the team, although they initially considered bringing in a whole new character for it.
“And then we thought, ‘Oh no, actually, it’ll be better if that person’s already on the team and we’re not acknowledging it and they’re hiding it so well, but there’s been no hint of it so far.’ That helps demonstrate what this person is going through,” he said.
He added that they purposely kept Harris in the dark even after they decided Colin would be the closeted player, so as to not risk him playing the role in a way that telegraphed to viewers that he could be gay. Instead, they wanted the “revelation” of his sexuality to have more of an impact for people who rewatch and see how good the footballer was at hiding it.
“It’s still a taboo in football, but there are more active players who are coming out,” Hunt said. “There was Josh Cavallo in Australia last year, Jakub Jankto in Czech Republic this year, and Jake Daniels at Blackpool. It’s just a part of what’s happening in football. We may be a fake football club, but we’re trying to show a little bit of football reality here.”
Season 3 of Ted Lasso began airing on March 15, 2023, and will conclude on May 31, 2023.
Ted Lasso is streaming on Apple TV+.
Ted Lasso follows an American college football coach (Jason Sudeikis) who heads to London to manage AFC Richmond, a struggling English Premier League football team.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
