Watch! The Walking Dead has a gay male character!

The hit zombie television series has finally unveiled its first gay male character.

While The Walking Dead previously introduced a lesbian character, Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson), there’s been speculation for months that the show would introduce a new LGBT character in its fifth and current season.

Last year there were rumours that seemingly asexual Daryl Dixon (played by Norman Reedus) would be revealed to be gay, but creator Robert Kirkman confirmed in December that, “Daryl Dixon is actually straight.”

He went on to add: “But, coming back in our next half of the season, we’re going to be introducing a very prominent gay character from the comics that’ll be debuting.”

This week, it appears that’s finally happened. In the latest episode broadcast in the US on Sunday night a mysterious new character named Aaron (Ross Marquand) walked out of the woods and introduced himself to Sasha and Maggie, as “a friend”.

Marquand is an accomplished voiceover actor from Denver, Colorado. You might have seen him in an episode of Mad Men in the role of Hollywood icon Paul Newman.

The show hasn’t had time to address Aaron’s sexuality yet, but fans of the comic book on which The Walking Dead is based will know that he is indeed gay and has a boyfriend named Eric.

We can’t wait to see what part Aaron will play in the characters’ desperate bid to survive in their post-apocalyptic world!