Corrie star receives death threats over gay priest role

Coronation Street

star Daniel Brocklebank has revealed that his character’s onscreen romance with Antony Cotton’s Sean Tully has been met with a disheartening barrage of homophobic abuse and even death threats on Twitter.

The 35-year-old actor, who plays gay priest Billy Mayhew on the flagship ITV soap, told the Daily Star that as a gay man himself, he was more than equipped to deal with the pockets of hate on the internet.

“Somebody tweeted me the other day and said they wanted to kick ‘that faggy Sean’s head in and crucify the shirt-lifting vicar’, he said. “I thought: ‘Crucify?’ God, we can have a coffee first?

“I get a lot of stuff from right-wing Christian groups too.”

Explaining that he tends to deal with the abuse by poking fun at the trolls responsible, he added: “There have been dark periods of my life where people and society have told me it is absolutely wrong and I had nobody to turn to.

“You learn to try and deflect things with humour.”

Daniel – who revealed in the Attitude Naked Issue earlier this year he was once refused a flatshare over his sexuality – went on to say that Billy’s sexuality and budding relationship with Sean was “opening people’s eyes” about the still sadly controversial topic of gays in the Church.

“I am now in touch with several gay vicars who are thankful that Coronation Street are highlighting the issue of gay clergy.

“Religion is not gay-friendly but with a character like mine it is opening people’s eyes. There are many gay Christians, Muslims and Catholics and it is all right to have a faith.”

In This Article: