Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus on the AMC hit ‘The Walking Dead’ has never had a romantic connection.  He’s been extremely close to Carol, but that relationship has been treated more as platonic, and he was recently on the run with Beth, but once again, that was more a big brother/little sister thing.  This has led some to speculate about the introverted character’s sexuality.  Showrunner Scott M. Gimple did earlier confirm that a gay male character would factor in later this season, but didn’t reveal the character’s identity.

But during his appearance on the mid-season finale of ‘Talking Dead‘, the creator of ‘The Walking Dead’ comics and executive producer of the TV show, Robert Kirkman finally clarified that the gay character was in fact, not Daryl.

The writer/producer stated:

“We play Daryl Dixon as being somewhat asexual on the show. I think that he is a very introverted character. I think that’s some of his appeal. I do have to clear something up though. In ‘The Walking Dead’ letters column in the old comic book that I do, there was a question that made me mention that there was a possibility early on about making Daryl Dixon’s character gay and it caused quite a hubbub online. I just wanted to make it clear that I was saying the possibility is there. I would’ve been fine with it, the network would’ve been fine with it. But we ultimately didn’t do that. I can make it official, Daryl Dixon is actually straight.”

So Daryl is off the table.  Who will this gay male character be?  Well, he could someone completely brand new, just like Daryl Dixon, who didn’t originate in the comics.

If the producers do take inspiration from the comics, then there are three possibilities.

There was actually a gay male couple, Aaron and Eric, who acted as scouts for the settlement of Alexandria.  They tracked Rick and his crew to figure out if they were trustworthy enough to bring into their community.  As of right now, on the show, Rick and company are without a home base, so could Alexandria be their next home?  The only problem is that Aaron and Eric really never amounted to much.  One of them died and I can’t even remember which one it was.

Plus, Kirkman and Gimple have only mentioned bringing in one gay male character, so it may not be either of these two.  A more likely option is…

Paul Monroe, better known as Jesus due to his long hair and beard.  The character’s sexuality actually went unmentioned for over a year, but he proved one of the most significant additions to he book since Michonne, many years earlier.  With his martial arts and stealth skill, he’d be a welcome addition to the show’s continuity.  (At least he’d balance out that worthless Father Gabriel.)

Would you like to see any of these added to the show?  Or would you be more interested in a brand now character?