James Bailey (Nathan Graham)
Coronation Street will explore the issue of homophobia in football with the arrival of a new LGBTQ+ character on the cobbles.
Later this year, the soap will welcome the Bailey family when they buy No. 3 from Norris Cole, and one of their first major storylines will see gay footballer James (Nathan Graham) coming out to dad Edison (Trevor Michael Georges), mum Aggie (Lorna Laidlaw) and brother Michael (Ryan Russell).
Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod previewed the topical storyline to Digital Spy and other media on Friday (April 5), promising that it would differ from other types of "coming out stories".
"We wanted to look at homophobia in sport, and homophobia in football so that will be a component of the story but also we wanted to look at a modern story about a young gay man," MacLeod explained.
"So, it won’t be your normal coming out story where we see James wrestling with his sexuality. We’re quite keen that he knows who he is but has some apprehensiveness about telling his parents, and some apprehensiveness about his teammates finding out.
"When we meet the character he’s on the cusp of bigger things football-wise, and is also aware that despite the progress that we’ve made as a society, in lots of areas, homophobia on the terraces is fairly rampant. He’s scared about the reaction.
"But not because he's worried that his family will reject him. It’s more about the football. It’s a big moment for anybody to sit your family down and tell them. We wanted to make this a very modern coming out story rather than the ones we've seen."
James and his family will first appear on screen in June when they buy the builder's yard from the Grimshaws.
Digital Spy
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