Heartstopper cast dance defiantly in front of anti-gay protesters at Pride in London

Words: Will Stroude; Image: via Twitter @SkyScottBeasley

The cast of Heartstopper have been filmed dancing defiantly in front of anti-gay protesters at Pride in London.

The young stars of Netflix’s smash-hit LGBTQ series ensured their presence was felt at the capital’s first Pride march since 2019 with a pointed and unapologetic response to a group of homophobes brandising bigoted placards along the parade route.

Footage shared on Twitter shows Joe Locke (who plays Nick Nelson), Sebastian Croft (Ben Hope) and Corinna Brown (Tara Jones) boisteriously dancing in front of the bigoted buzz-kills as another Pride-goer attempts to remove one of the offensive placards.

Croft, 20, can be seen blowing the protesters kisses while former Attitude cover star Locke can be seen giving them the finger while singing along to Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)’.

The stars of Heartstopper absolutely loving it as anti-LGBT protesters are challenged by a young Pride supporter #Pride pic.twitter.com/7uUwaG9MXW

— Scott Beasley (@SkyScottBeasley) July 2, 2022

Locke, who identifies as gay, spent much of the Pride in London parade marching with on-screen love interest Kit Connor (Nick Nelson), and was wrapped in a Progess Pride flag throughout.

Locke, Connor, Croft and Brown were joined ar Pride in London on Saturday but other Heartstopper cast members including Tobie Donovan (Isaac Henderson), Kizzy Edgell (Darcy Olsson), Rhea Norwood (Imogen Heaney) and Jenny Walser (Tori Spring).

This year’s Pride in London marks the 50th anniversary of Pride in the UK, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to take to the streets of the capital after 2020 and 2021’s events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, it was announced in May that Heartstopper has been renewed by Netflix for a second and third season followingthe mammoth success of its first run.