UK SOAP STAR COMES OUT

Kieron Richardson, who stars in the British soap Hollyoaks, has come out as gay in a television interview on the This Morning show.

The 24 year old actor, who also took part in the show Dancing on Ice earlier this year, is best known for playing the role of bad boy Ste Hay in the series.

“I feel completely comfortable with it”, he told This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. “We don’t live in the dark ages anymore, we live in the 21st century… It’s not wrong. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”

Richardson said that he decided to make his sexual orientation public because his character will become involved in a gay relationship as part of a new Hollyoaks storyline.

“When I was on Dancing On Ice, newspapers speculated and tried to say we kind of know and if you want to say you can do your story with us and get it out there. At that point, my personal life took a back step and it was more about the competition and trying to get through the next week rather than get a few column inches in the newspaper and maybe raise my profile at the time,” he said.

“But now I feel that it’s relevant and the storyline’s relevant to some situations in my life, then if maybe I can help people that are going through the same thing then it’s a bonus,” Richardson added.