Fame shock! Kit Connor wasn’t used to ‘millions of people’ watching every move before he came out as bisexual

22 July 2023

Kit Connor wasn’t used to the idea of “millions of people” watching his every move before he came out as bisexual.

Kit Connor wasn’t used to the idea of ‘millions of people’ watching his every move before he came out as bisexual

The 19-year-old ‘Heartstopper’ actor, who revealed his bisexuality to the world in November amid intense speculation on social media, added it would have been “so inappropriate” for makers of the hit Netflix gay drama to ask him about his sexual orientation when he was cast in the show.

He told The Guardian: “(I) was still very freshly 18 (when I came out.) Still newly in the public eye.

“I wasn’t used to the idea of millions of people watching what I was doing, or having a genuine interest in my private life.”

Kit took to social media last year to accuse fans on Twitter of “forcing” him to disclose his sexuality.

He tweeted: “Back for a minute. I’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself.”

Kit plays Nick Nelson in Netflix love story ‘Heartstopper’, based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman, 28, about two schoolboys navigating their first queer relationship.

The actor added about not being asked about his sexuality when he tried out for the part as a younger teen: “It would have been so inappropriate to ask a 16-year-old.”

But he said there was something “unspoken” in the “little notice before the casting call, saying: ‘We really want the characters to pass authentically.’

“I was thinking, ‘Well, I feel I can play this role very authentically.’

“I knew that I was a queer man, but I didn't feel I wanted the world to know. Not because I was ashamed, but because it was private.”

Kit, who still lives with his parents in his native London, recently told British Vogue about his and his family’s privacy: “You feel a bit watched. I’m still in my formative years, so things I wouldn’t want to be watched doing are.”

He added even though he is starring in the second series of ‘Heartstopper’, which premieres on Netflix in August, he wanted to be seen as an actor who can do a variety of “different” roles.