Twitter has been reminded of Christopher Biggins’ past comments about bisexual people, after the panto star was invited onto Wednesday’s edition of Good Morning Britain to discuss the news about Superman coming out as bisexual in a future comic.
Earlier this week, DC Comics confirmed that in an upcoming story, Superman – now the alter-ego of Clark Kent’s son, rather than the original superhero – would be seen having a romantic moment with a man.
On Wednesday morning, Biggins was invited to discuss the issue, where he voiced his disapproval, accusing the comic book creators of “pandering to the ‘woke system’”.
“If you want to do something like this, do something original,” he said. “Don’t take characters that already exist and make them into something that they’re not.”
Presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley then pointed out this story will take place within “the next generation” of Superman, with the latter pointing out: “It’s perfectly reasonable to think that the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane might well grow up to be bisexual. You say ‘why’, but why not?”
Doubling down, a slightly flustered Biggins responded: “Well… I mean… I just find it extraordinary. I do find it absolutely bizarre that this is what people want nowadays.
“Why can’t we stick to… in the future, why don’t they do some new characters? Why not create something new, something different? [Rather] than go to a character we all know and love and we all know as this, not that.”
After the clip was posted online, many spoke out against GMB for inviting Biggins to be part of the discussion, given he was removed from the Celebrity Big Brother house back in 2016 after making a series of remarks about bisexual people.
They also called out Biggins for not having done research on the story before speaking out about it on national television...
During a discussion on sexuality during his time in the Big Brother house, Biggins received a warning for saying: “The worst type, though, is, I’m afraid to say, the bisexuals... what it is is people not wanting to admit they are gay.”
In a conversation later in the series, he also discussed HIV, claiming the virus was spread by bisexual people who had sex abroad, with infected people, before they “brought it back to their own families in America, and that’s how it became a worldwide disease”.
Biggins was eventually removed from the CBB house, following another comment he made about the Holocaust to housemate Katie Waissel, which Channel 5 chose not broadcast.
At the end of Wednesday’s GMB debate, podcast host Aamir Hassan outlined why he felt the Superman news was a “fantastic” development.
“For a lot of young people, they don’t have the privilege of coming out, and they’re in positions where they’re not able to come out and they’re not able to be themselves,” he explained. “And they look to media, they look to entertainment, they look to comic books, they look to these places for solace and to see themselves.
“And if even just one young person can see Superman’s son be bisexual and it helps them, I don’t see what the issue is. Representation and visibility don’t just change lives, they genuinely save lives.”
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.