Hollyoaks star Andrew Hayden-Smith shares cute snap of himself kissing boyfriend at Brighton Pride
By Will Stroude
Brighton came alive last weekend as an estimated crowd of 300,000 descended on the seaside gay Mecca for the town’s annual Pride event.
Among the brightly (and partially) dressed revellers was Hollyoaks star Andrew Hayden-Smith, who made a statement on social media as he shared an adorable snap of himself kissing boyfriend Dan Maton during the Pride festival at Preston Park.
Hayden-Smith, who has played the role of DS Gavin Armstrong on the Channel 4 soap since 2016, was pictured in just a pair of jeans as he proudly locked lips with Dan, declaring “LoveIsLove” in the caption.
The couple, who have been dating for several months, looked very much loved up as Andrew shared pictures of the pair enjoying the evening’s performance with their friends.
Andrew, 33, first rose to fame in the ’90s playing Ben Carter on iconic children’s drama Byker Grove before going on to appear in everything from Doctor Who to Russell T Davies’ Cucumber and Banana.
He came out publicly as gay in the pages of Attitude in 2005 at the age of 22, while working as a presenter for children’s television channel CBBC.
Discussing his coming out journey at the time, Andrew told told us: “I told three of my friends who I knew would be fine about it but I didn’t really tell anybody in Byker. I probably wasn’t happy about it myself at the time.
“It was when I moved to London that I got more comfortable.”
To see more highlights from Brighton Pride, check out our round-up of the weekend’s events here.
Hollyoaks airs weekdays at 6.30pm on Channel 4.
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