Heartstopper's Kit Connor was 'frankly a bit rash' in announcing bisexuality

Kit Connor has suggested that his coming out tweet from November 2022 was "a bit rash".

Best recognised for playing high-schooler Nick Nelson in Netflix's teen drama Heartstopper, the 19-year-old announced after apparently feeling pressurised: "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 [sic]."

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Fastforward to his interview with The Guardian and the actor now laments the way in which he chose to address online speculation regarding his sexuality.

“It was a human instinctual reaction," Connor told the publication. "I did it, turned off my light and went to sleep."

The next day, his Heartstopper pals were quick to poke fun at him, which was the perfect tonic "because it took the sting out of it all".

"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," he went on to reflect, before backing up his initial observation from last year.

"The whole point of the show is that [queerness] is not always so stereotyped. There are so many lines in the show where someone goes: 'Nick Nelson, he's the straightest guy in the school. He's the captain of the rugby team so there's no way [he's queer].' Sometimes you just need to give people space."

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In light of the youngster's announcement, Heartstopper author Alice Oseman blasted the section of fans that forced his hand.

"I truly don't understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes," she wrote at the time.

"I hope all those people are embarrassed as F***."

Heartstopper season 2 premieres 3 August on Netflix.

Watch: Kit Connor on coming out after facing pressure from social media