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The Heartstopper cast’s reaction to Kit Connor’s coming out proves what we always knew

Exclusive: "We just really wanted to lift Kit up and give him all the love."

By Alastair James

The cast of Heartstopper on Kit Connor's coming out
The cast of Heartstopper on Kit Connor's coming out (Image: Attitude/Olivia Richardson and Attitude/Kit Oates)

The cast of Heartstopper has opened up about what it was like on set the day after Kit Connor came out as bisexual and it just proves they’re a tight-knit family.

Kit Connor, who plays Nick Nelson in the Netflix series, said he was “forced” off then-Twitter in September 2022 following accusations of ‘queerbaiting’ related to his Heartstopper role.

Then in November, he returned to say “I’m bi,” adding: “Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye.”

Unfortunately, as lovely as most of the Heartstopper fandom is the majority of the time, the young stars of the show have fallen foul of the trappings of fame — notably a lack of privacy.

Kit was robbed of being able to complete his journey in his own time, which is something he reflected on more recently, telling British Vogue in July that while he didn’t feel “forced” he would have preferred “to do it another way.”

“We’re all protective of each other” – Heartstopper‘s Kizzy Edgell

When Attitude met up with some of the cast (before Kit addressed it in the aforementioned interview) for their Attitude cover shoot the cast discussed what it was like on set the day after Kit came out.

Understandably the cast was respectful of Connor and reluctant to comment much about this chain of events. However, Tobie Donovan revealed “it was a tough day on set.”

He continued: “We just really wanted to lift Kit up and give him all the love. We all gave him a big hug. That’s been such an individual journey for him so I wouldn’t want to comment, but we were definitely a tight family unit that day.”

Kit Connor at the 2022 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards
Kit Connor at the 2022 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards (Image: Attitude/Kit Oates)

Corinna Brown, who plays Tara Jones, questioned if people really understood what Heartstopper is all about.

“People can mind their business. In the nicest way possible, it wasn’t anyone’s place to do, like, anything.”

Kizzy also added, “We’re all protective of each other.”

To celebrate the release of Heartstopper season two Attitude has published five collectible covers featuring  Nima Taleghani and Fisayo Akinade, Bel Priestley and Ash SelfKizzy Edgell and Corinna Brown, and Tobie Donovan and Bradley Riches.

The fifth and final cover featured a group shot of all of the above.

Read the full interviews with the cast in Issue 354 of Attitude magazine, out now. All interviews were completed before the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Heartstopper is streaming now.