‘The Walking Dead’s Rick and Darryl grab bums in cheeky new shoot
By Will Stroude
The Walking Dead
has been dogged with speculation over the last year about crossbow-wielding bad boy Darryl Dixon’s sexuality, and in recent photoshoot for Entertainment Weekly, actor Norman Reedus and co-star Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) teased fans of the possibility with a cheeky man-on-man butt grab.
The pair appear on the cover of this week’s issue of the magazine alongside fellow star Melissa McBride (Carol Peletier), but the photo apparently came about by accident after Reedus tried to jokingly hold Lincoln’s hand.
“Reedus knows how to make a great picture and also likes to give great imagery to his fans, so I asked the trio if we could shoot them from behind, and then I told Melissa McBride to turn her head towards the camera,” the magazine’s photo editor Michele Romero revealed.
“They all complied, and then Reedus and Lincoln gave us something a little extra—taking their bromance to a whole other level. I love this picture because it just happened organically. Everyone needs a cheeky Norman Reedus.”
There does also seem to be a red handkerchief poking out Darryl’s back pocket too, though the less said about that the better…
Reedus previously admitted he’d “rock” a Darryl Dixon gay storyline, after the character’s platonic relationships with women over the show’s five season led fans to speculate that he might not be all that interested in them sexually.
The zombie horror drama has introduced a number of LGBT characters over the course of its last two seasons, including Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) – though the show’s first kiss between two men last year drew a sadly predictable anti-gay backlash.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC in the US on October 11. The sixth season will premiere in the UK on October 12 on FOX.
Meanwhile, eagerly-anticipated spin-off series Fear the Walking Dead is scheduled to premiere on August 23 on AMC in the US. The series debuts in September in the UK exclusively for BT customers.
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