Nobody causes internet hysteria quite like British actor Kit Connor. The very modern teen idol talks about sudden fame, working out, and the return of Heartstopper.
But it’s come with a steep learning curve. “You feel a bit watched,” he says. “I’m still in my formative years, so things I wouldn’t want to be watched doing are.” He explains it feels particularly invasive when fans dig into the lives of his family, looking them up on social media. “They didn’t sign up for it,” he says. As for his own privacy, he accepts he’ll have to work harder to maintain it. “I haven’t had a huge problem,” he says. “I think I’ve still been pretty lucky in a lot of ways.
“Lucky” is a surprising word to hear, given his experiences last autumn. Social media was rife with speculation about Connor’s sexuality, after he was pictured holding hands with Maia Reficco, his co-star in the upcoming adaptation of YA novelPride events in his own life, some accused Connor of “queerbaiting”, a term used to describe a celebrity capitalising on speculation they’re not straight . The online harassment intensified; Connor left Twitter. He planned to ignore the noise , but returned in October with a tweet: “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.”
It was, obviously, not an easy period. “I’m a young man, so I’m already kind of going through certain things, in terms of just life and mental health.” His tweet was a build-up of emotion. “I just needed to let that energy out.”. “It was just a very natural process for me; I didn’t really have an ‘oh, shit’ moment. It just became more and more evident.” Although his family were “super accepting and inclusive and wonderful”, his all-boys school was less so.
Internally, he was conscious of the narrative around those who are bisexual. “It’s the experience of maybe you’re too straight to be gay and you’re too gay to be straight. So it’s like, ‘Where do I sit?’ But I feel much more secure in myself now.” Regardless, it didn’t make dealing with overzealous fans any easier. “I just felt like it wasn’t something I was ready to talk about,” he says. “I wasn’t angry. I was just slightly disappointed by this reaction.
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