Emmerdale has aired scenes in which Arthur Thomas has come out as gay this week.
In a moving moment he revealed his sexuality in a game of hangman with Nicola King.
Arthur has since been outed to the rest of the community in a way perhaps he wouldn’t have chosen.
However, Emmerdale fans are full of praise for the storyline and last night’s latest twist had them applauding the soap once again.
Elliot outs Arthur in Emmerdale
On Wednesday night (December 14) Elliot outed Arthur to the other teens in the village after overhearing his conversation with Nicola.
Arthur was hurt and confused and ran off before coming out to his mum, Laurel, who offered him her full support.
The other teens, Cathy, April and Heath, and Nicola, berated Elliot after he forced Arthur’s hand in coming out and also revealed he’d told some people at school.
But Elliot didn’t seem to think he’d done anything wrong, saying: “I don’t care if he’s gay.”
Nicola insisted it was great that’s how he felt, but that others might not feel the same.
After much soul-searching, Arthur decided to face up to his school mates last night (Thursday, December 15). He even let Cathy Hope post something online about him.
Elliot apologised for outing him, and April and Cathy both vyed for Arthur to be their ‘gay best friend’.
And then the teens all shared a group hug.
Fans react
Those watching at home were thrilled at how supportive the friends were being of each other – not to mention how shocked they were at such a twist!
For once, everyone was just being kind to each other, which in a village like Emmerdale is quite the surprise!
“Good gracious me! The youngsters being kind to one another in the village. Far better than nastiness. Showing Arthur they stand by him and they understand is very warming indeed,” said one surprised viewer.
Another agreed: “Crying at how supportive they all are of Arthur.”
“Loving the support Arthur is getting,” said a third.
A fourth questioned: “Why can’t all kids be like this?”
Others were thrilled to see the love between the teens: “Awww cute group hug,” and “That’s nice a group hug,” they wrote.
“Those five kids have the potential to be great going forward,” shared one more.
Arthur gets support in Emmerdale
Later in the episode concerned Laurel visited Ethan and Marcus to ask for their help.
The guys then talked to Arthur and told him they were there for him if he needed anything or had any questions.
Let’s hope everyone else is as accepting of Arthur.
Read more: Complete Emmerdale cast list 2022 – meet them all here!
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour episode on Thursdays.
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