EastEnrs' Ben Mchell to e out as gay | BBC One | The Guardian

Contents:

• BEN MCHELL IS VERY, VERY OK WH BEG GAY NOW, REVEALS NEW EASTENRS STAR
• EASTENRS' BEN MCHELL TO E OUT AS GAY
• IS THE PERSON WHO PLAYS BEN MCHELL REAL LIFE GAY
• EASTENRS’ HALFWAY IS REVEALED TO BE SECRETLY GAY BY BEN MCHELL – AS FANS PREDICT STEAMY AFFAIR FOR THEM
• THE BECHL TT FOR GAY CHARACTERS: SEE WHICH 2012 MOVI PASSED THE RSO TT
• EASTENRS GAY SEX SCENE WH BEN MCHELL AND PL COKER WILL NOT FACE OF PROBE
• IS BEN MCHELL GAY?
• EASTENRS’ HALFWAY IS REVEALED TO BE SECRETLY GAY BY BEN MCHELL – AS FANS PREDICT STEAMY AFFAIR FOR THEM

BEN MCHELL IS VERY, VERY OK WH BEG GAY NOW, REVEALS NEW EASTENRS STAR

Wh Ben Mchell number 6 now back EastEnrs, the actor Max Bown, who has taken on the role, has spoken about how Ben views beg gay a prs event at Elstree Studs recently where EastEnrs is filmed, actor Max scribed how his versn of Ben Mchell will differ om the last. “Ben is much more open wh the fact that he is gay, and he’s very, very okay wh .

Almost 25 years after EastEnrs broke a TV taboo by screeng the first homosexual kiss a Brish soap, BBC producers are planng to troduce a third gay character to Walford to ph the boundari a ltle further – and add dramatic tensn – they have cid the new gay character will be part of the square's rint crimal fay, the guy Phil Mchell will learn his son is gay after the teenager is spotted a clch wh another boy. The scen, filmed earlier this week, will show Ben Mchell, played by Joshua Pase, kissg EastEnrs character Dunn, although will be many months before his father, who is stgglg wh a former crack e hab, fds regular fans will e no surprise, as Ben was a source of nstant disappotment to his dad, chewg pastim like football and boxg for dancg and Wt End mils as a young "g out" three years after EastEnrs drew more than 100 plats for screeng a gay kiss volvg one of s two ma gay characters, Christian Clarke, and 24 years after Col Rsell, played by actor Michael Cashman, planted a kiss on his young boyiend's 1987, was a highly ntroversial storyle bee gay characters were rarely portrayed as part of normal everyday life TV dramas.

EASTENRS' BEN MCHELL TO E OUT AS GAY

And took another eight years before another homosexual taboo was broken by Channel 4's Brooksi wh the first lbian kiss a Brish soap, an event that tapulted actrs Anna Friel to, soap fans are more acctomed to gay characters – there have been 15 EastEnrs s 26-year history. But three years ago the BBC1 soap went one step further when troduced s first Mlim gay character, tablishg a long-nng storyle signed to tackle latt storyle is also a perfect foundatn for years of dramatic nflict.

IS THE PERSON WHO PLAYS BEN MCHELL REAL LIFE GAY

Ben – whose screen mother was Kath Mchell – has ltle mon wh his father, played by long-servg EastEnrs actor Steve McFadn, and his g out will no doubt tt the filial relatnship to the Kirkwood, EastEnrs' executive producer, said: "For EastEnrs viewers, was never a qutn of if, but more like when Ben Mchell was gog to e out as gay. "To see a man like Phil learn to al wh, and ultimately accept, his gay son, is a valid story for a drama like EastEnrs to embark on.

I have been wonrg this fo que a long time, Bens character is really mp and always has been but i jt thought that was bee of the person playg him but now that they are dog this current storyle i am wonrg if he is gay or if all that mpns was done on purpose to get to the current storyle up and nng. Even if the kid is effemate real life, don't neccarilly mean he is gay. Sce they seem to be nng this storyle that he is gay as he wr 'Leon is f' his diary next week and then blam on Louise, I was wonrg if Charlie Jon has actually e out real life.

EASTENRS’ HALFWAY IS REVEALED TO BE SECRETLY GAY BY BEN MCHELL – AS FANS PREDICT STEAMY AFFAIR FOR THEM

Like some kids do e out at 13 years old and I fd hard to believe that EE would do a story like this if the child isn't actually gay.

He is more mp than Sean Tully so I would gus that y he is gay. He's been playg the role of Ben sce was 9 or 10 years old, I don't image that the EE producers at the time were lookg for a gay child to play Ben. Thirteen is extremely young, for someone to be sure that they are gay.

THE BECHL TT FOR GAY CHARACTERS: SEE WHICH 2012 MOVI PASSED THE RSO TT

I thk if EE took the root of havg a gay school boy, would elic outrage om the viewers and media.

Would makg Ben gay, fulfill people wh excg entertament?

EASTENRS GAY SEX SCENE WH BEN MCHELL AND PL COKER WILL NOT FACE OF PROBE

No-one here knows whether Charlie Jon is gay or not, and to be hont none of should re.

yeah me to, their seems to be a mass obssn wh been gay on the foms. 13 years old?, christ my mat and i were all climbg tre at 13 yrs old, we didnt even give thoughts as to whether we were gay or not. I certaly dont s there wonrg or not whether h gay, who r, let him disver his own path when h had chance to grow up ab.

IS BEN MCHELL GAY?

A better ia for a storyle would be if Ben turned out not to be gay. I get asked often if I'm gay, and my mat make jok about . The people obssed wh Ben's sexualy need a ser lson on the difference between beg gay and beg mp/effemate/ whatever you want to ll .

No all gay men/boys are mp eher, so that generalisatn should be thrown straight out, and not all mp men/boys are gay eher. I don't re whether the actor is gay and 14 is very young,. Lookg back at myself at that age, is now obv I was gay but I was up arms if was mentned....

Adult actors who play gay have problems om "fans" yet alone a kid who is dog his own growg up on and OFF screen. So many gay storyl soaps are about olr people, who sudnly ci they are gay when they meet someone of the same sexdand are normally another hetrosexual sonia etc etc gay love triangle is a soap fave really... Ben slept wh Lola Pearce and he realised he was fely gay.

EASTENRS’ HALFWAY IS REVEALED TO BE SECRETLY GAY BY BEN MCHELL – AS FANS PREDICT STEAMY AFFAIR FOR THEM

When Ben nfsed to Phil that he thought he was gay, Phil ially reacted badly, leavg Ben heartbroken.

EASTENDERS viewers all have the same qutn about Ben Mchell after he sudnly cid to hi beg gay. The mechanic - who is played by actor Max Bown the BBC soap - admted he was stgglg to pe after the homophobic attack earlier this month. 2The pair were gog on a night out when they were subjected to homophobic abeCred: BBC.