Three days, three TV shows we feature that have or will have new openly gay athletes on the show. 90210‘s Teddy, the womanizing tennis pro (played by Trevor Donovan), will come out of the closet this season and embark on a relationship with another man this season. Executive producer Rebecca Sinclair explained how the story will unfold:
As a top-tier athlete and the son of a famous—and famously womanizing—actor, Teddy has always felt the need to keep up appearances. He’s had trouble reconciling the image that the world has of him with his own true sense of self. And he’s worked hard to repress whatever homosexual feelings he’s had. But early on in this season, something shakes up the structure of his life. With stability and routine out the window, he has trouble repressing who he really is. He acts impulsively and ends up hooking up with a guy. So it’s less of an epiphany than an impulsive act that sets things in motion.
Pics of the new “out athlete” after the jump.
on Aug 27th, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Yeah, when I think of he-man sports where male athletes have a macho image to protect, I think of tennis, right up there with synchronized swimming.
on Aug 27th, 2010 at 7:17 PM
All of these new gay characters – whether on Glee, Degrassi or 90210 – are great. The shows skew to a younger demographic and it’s fantastic that young viewers are being exposed to likeable gay characters in sports, choirs, etc.
What a change from the gay characters (infrequently) portrayed when I was growing up in the late 60′s and 70′s.