Kit Connor praises Heartstopper’s approach to queer sex: ‘This is really sweet and tender’

There’s only a few days left until the latest season of Heartstopper arrives on Netflix and to say we’re excited would be an understatement.

In the lead up to the show’s third seasons, both Kit Connor and Joe Locke, who play boyfriends Nick and Charlie respectively, have spoken about how the new episodes will see their characters become more intimate. As series creator Alice Oseman has said, Heartstopper is growing up.

Now Connor has shared further details about how the show is approaching queer sex in an interview with the Radio Times, saying that it’ll be handled in “a very Heartstopper way”.

“The focus is on the difficulties of knowing when you’re ready and what it is to be a young queer person,” he said.

He continued: “There isn’t as much representation in the industry of queer sex and often it’s represented as being much more advanced and very highly sexualised. This is really sweet and tender.”

“I think that’s a really nice alternative vision for young people” – Alice Oseman

Oseman, who appeared on the Radio Times Podcast, said they hoped the depiction of sex would be “really helpful” for young queer people who have anxiety about intimacy.

“I think teenagers today have so much pressure on them to have sex as early as possible,” they added. “It feels like everyone’s doing it. All your friends are saying you should be doing it. The internet is saying you should be doing it. Lots of teen media says you should, too.”

Oseman went on to tease that it takes some time for Nick and Charlie to take their relationship to the next level.

“I think that’s a really nice alternative vision for young people,” she said. “The storyline about sex in season three is very focused on the emotional side of it. It’s [about] the characters are asking questions like, ‘Am I ready to have sex? How do I know if my partner is also ready? What if it’s really awkward and embarrassing because I don’t know what I’m doing?'”

“Hopefully that will be relatable for a lot of young people,” they added.

Thankfully, there’s not too long until we get to see how the show handles these more mature themes for ourselves as Heartstopper season three is streaming on Netflix from 3 October.