John Partridge Calls For New Gay Characters In EastEnders

Former EastEnders actor John Partridge has called for the BBC One soap to introduce new gay characters.

Partridge played Christian Clarke, brother of long-suffering Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), in the saga. The actor joined the cast in 2008 and by far his biggest storyline was Christian’s on/off romance with neighbour Syed Masood (Marc Elliot). The romance between Christian and Syed certainly had its up and downs over the years but Partridge believes in the end the fact it was a gay romance became immaterial.

“It became a love story and the fact that it was two men became immaterial.  It really became something that was quite beautiful as opposed to sensational.” – John Partridge in The Sun

Partridge and co-star Marc Elliot bowed out of EastEnders in November and with their exit the soap lost its last gay characters. Their departure also marked the end of Danny Pennant (Gary Lucy) from the saga while murderous Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) was written out in August after confessing to the murder of Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison).

So with no gay characters left in EastEnders the actor has (cheekily) called for the soap to correct that.

“Bring in hot new gays, that’s what I say. Everyone needs to be represented — so somebody’s got to come flying that pink flag.”

The show hasn’t ruled out the possibility of bringing back actor Gary Lucy at some point but at the moment it seems as though there are no immediate plans to introduce a new (regular) gay character.