Following the worldwide success of Heartstopper season one in 2022, Kit Connor started to get a lot of pressure from fans to clarify how he labels his sexuality. Eventually, he shared a post on social media coming out as bi and acknowledging he felt pressured to share this information.
Having lived through that experience, Connor is now in a better place to talk about what he went through and help others going through similar circumstances. In a new piece from Interview Magazine, Connor took the time to share advice with other celebrities still feeling the pressure to come out and label their sexual orientations. The actor explained:
“I’ve met certain people in the last year who are going through this kind of thing, where they’ve been in a show that’s blown up or something like that, and they’ve suddenly found themselves in this world where there are a lot of eyes on them. Who you are as a person is suddenly really important to people. There’s something really weird and just wrong about it. Human beings are only really designed to meet a certain amount of people in our lives, to be known by and know a certain amount of people, and the concept that suddenly we’re known by millions is really overwhelming.”
He added, “But the advice I would give is what I’ve tried to teach myself over the last year: just that people will always talk. And it’s not necessary to fit into these boxes that people are going to try to fit you into. So I suppose I would tell anyone in a similar situation to just try to be who you are, and try to be aware of the fact that no matter who you are, someone’s going to be upset by it somehow.”
Connor also shared his opinion on the culture of fans who like to speculate about a person’s sexual orientation – particularly in his case, who was only 18 years old when season one of Heartstopper became a hit show. “I found it very disappointing, especially given my age,” Connor noted. “Although I don’t think that it should be something that is speculated on at any age. I really wanted to have that boundary. It was my private information and my personal life that I wanted to keep to myself. So I was kind of frustrated with myself that I gave into it.”
He continued, “What I learned from that experience is that there are certain things I want to keep private in my life. I’ve also learned that people are always going to have something to say. Even with me coming out, people will still have something to say. Whether they believe me or not, whether they suddenly think, ‘Oh, now can he play straight roles?’ But whatever they say, they’re going to say something.”
We’re glad to see that Kit Connor is in a better place right now to talk about these things with a clear mind and even offer some insights and advice.
Seasons one and two of Heartstopper are now streaming on Netflix.