Home and Away star Ray Meagher confirms plans for a new gay character
Home and Away star Ray Meagher – aka Summer Bay legend Alf Stewart – has confirmed that the show will introduce a gay character this year.
The Aussie soap has been criticised for not featuring an LGBT storyline since 2009, when policewoman Charlie Buckton had a brief relationship with guest character Joey Collins.
In an exclusive chat with Digital Spy, Ray has now told us that a gay male character will be introduced for a storyline later this year.
The news comes less than three months after Australia voted in favour of same sex marriage in a nationwide referendum. Same sex marriages were officially legalised in Australia in December.
Asked whether he'd like to see a gay character introduced to Home and Away after the historic vote, Ray told Digital Spy: "That's already happening – there is a storyline coming up.
"Our writers do try to keep abreast with the times, so there is an interesting character coming in. I won't tell you too much more about him, about how he works out or what happens, but that is being addressed.
"And we're all very pleased about it, by the way!"
Rumours that Home and Away would air a gay storyline have been circulating for a few weeks. In December, Shane Withington – who plays John Palmer – replied to a tweet from Aussie TV historian Andrew Mercado, which criticised the show's lack of diversity.
8 Dec
Andrew Mercado
✔
@andrewmercado
Replying to @NeighboursHQ
there is still no gay in the bay
it is probably the ONLY soap in the western world NOT to be diverse@homeandaway - get with the program
Shane Withington.
@ripperriver
Watch this space. ..
3:47 AM - Dec 8, 2017
1 1 Reply Retweets 1 1 like
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Andrew tweeted: "There is still no gay in the Bay. It is probably the ONLY soap in the western world NOT to be diverse @homeandaway – get with the program."
Keeping vague, Shane replied: "Watch this space."
Home and Away has featured both male and female gay characters before, including Pippa Fletcher's son Christopher in 2003. Despite that, Joey and Charlie's 2009 storyline caused a media storm in Australia when conservative groups complained about Home and Away exploring a same-sex relationship on screen.
It later emerged that one of Joey and Charlie's more intimate scenes had been cut from broadcast after the controversy, sparking counter-criticism that Home and Away had wrongly bowed to pressure from a small minority of unhappy viewers.
While Home and Away had since shied away from featuring LGBT relationships, rival soap Neighbours has won praise for incorporating a number of gay regulars in the cast since 2010 – including Chris Pappas, Nate Kinski, Aaron Brennan and David Tanaka.
Digital Spy