Coronation Street actor Daniel Brocklebank has detailed the homophobic messages he continues to receive online, saying it’s important we realise that LGBTQ+ people are still subject to abuse.
Daniel – who plays vicar Billy Mayhew in the ITV soap – appeared on Friday’s Good Morning Britain, where he said he has now taken to retweeting any offensive messages he receives, so others can see that it still goes on.
“I think it’s important to highlight in 2019 that it still exists,” Daniel explained. “People do it less now because I call them out on Twitter, so I think they’ve stopped because they know I’ll highlight it.”
He also spoke about his pride at playing a gay character who was also a vicar, saying: “I think it’s important that we can show that religion and homosexuality can go together, because obviously they are two subjects which are often opposing in most religions. It has been good to represent that.”
Daniel’s character Billy first arrived on the cobbles in late 2014, and was originally introduced as a love interest for Sean Tully, before eventually getting together with Todd Grimshaw.
His scenes opposite former Corrie star Bruno Langley proved controversial among some closed-minded fans of the soap in 2016, despite the fact the only showed two men kissing, which prompted a response from Daniel at the time.
Since then, his character has come close to death after an attack from Peter Barlow, and also battled heroin addiction.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.