Coronation Street's Daniel Brocklebank hits back at 'homophobes'

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Daniel Brocklebank hit back after kiss involving character Billy Mahew
He embraced Todd Grimshaw, played by Bruno Langley, in hotel bed
Some viewers had criticised ITV for ‘sickening’ and ‘appalling’ scene
Grimshaw is first openly gay Corrie character after coming out in 2003

Published: 05:05 EST, 6 September 2016 | Updated: 11:57 EST, 6 September 2016

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A Coronation Street actor has hit back at 'homophobes' who slammed the TV soap over a gay kissing scene last night.

Daniel Brocklebank’s character Billy Mahew embraced Todd Grimshaw, played by Bruno Langley, on a bed in a hotel room during last night’s episode of the show.

However, some viewers were unimpressed - saying the ‘sickening’ and ‘appalling’ scene should not have been broadcast on ITV before the 9pm watershed.

Kiss: Daniel Brocklebank’s character Billy Mahew (right) embraced Todd Grimshaw (left), played by Bruno Langley, on a bed in a hotel room during last night’s Coronation Street

Disagreement: The men shared a passionate kiss in the boutique hotel room in yesterday’s episode, before Grimshaw stormed out when Mahew said he did not want to have sex

'Disgusted': Coronation Street actor Daniel Brocklebank hit back at people criticising the kiss

But Brockelbank said: ‘Had many angry tweets saying "I'm disgusted my kids saw men kiss on TV". I'm disgusted they left it up TV to teach their kids how love works.’

Grimshaw, who was Coronation Street's first openly gay character having come out in 2003, has been dating Mahew for a few months in the long-running show.

They shared a passionate kiss in the boutique hotel room in yesterday’s episode, before Grimshaw stormed out when Mahew said he did not want to have sex.

But the kiss resulted in a backlash online, with one saying: 'Are you going to send me a cleaner to mop up the sick from my carpet! Gay scenes way too much info.’

Rob Davies tweeted: 'Homosexual scenes in Corrie tonight were sickening. Most now tolerate this practice but we don't need it rammed down our throats.'

On-screen couple: Grimshaw, who was the first openly gay character on Coronation Street having come out in 2003, has been dating Mahew for a few months in the long-running show

Causing a stir: Some viewers were unimpressed by the kiss - saying the ‘sickening’ and ‘appalling’ scene should not have been broadcast on ITV before the 9pm watershed

And Kevin Jones added: 'Coronation Street, appalled by the latest scenes in tonight's episode. Spoilt Corrie for me and all before 21:00 hours. Lost a loyal fan.'

But it was only a minority of viewers who complained about the kiss, with many others backing the programme for 'showing the real world'.

Among them was Carly Simone, who said: 'All the overreactions to the gay scene in Corrie tonight. You do realise Coronation Street was created by a gay man, right?'

And ‘Lee’ tweeted: 'To think, Beth Jordache snogged a woman in Brookside 22 years ago... And people are STILL upset to see gay people kissing in 2016.’

Leon Ward added: 'Outrage over a gay kiss on Corrie pre-watershed is crazy. Heterosexual kisses happen before the watershed, every day.'

Opinions: The kiss resulted in a backlash online, with some viewers saying it 'spoilt' the show

Last month Ofcom rejected 67 complaints about a gay kiss – again between Mayhew and Grimshaw broadcast on July 8 and July 11.

The broadcast watchdog said at the time that is rules ‘do not discriminate between scenes involving opposite sex and same sex couples’.

And in February 2014 Ofcom received more than 100 complaints about a half-naked embrace between Grimshaw and Marcus Dent, played by Charlie Condou.

But again the watchdog declined to investigate the soap - was created by a gay man in the late Tony Warren - for the same reason.

An ITV spokesman told MailOnline today: 'We approach the portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as heterosexual relationships, and we carefully consider all scenes in our soaps, and their suitability for pre-watershed audiences.

On the other side: It was only a minority of viewers who complained about the kiss, with many others (above) backing the programme for 'showing the real world'

'We do not believe that the content of last night's episode was inappropriately scheduled, or exceeded generally accepted standards for content broadcast at this time.'

The first gay kiss between two men on British TV was broadcast on BBC One in 1979 in Coming Out, five years after the first lesbian kiss on BBC Two drama Girl in 1974.

Matt Horwood from LGBT rights group Stonewall told MailOnline today: ‘It’s sad to see that a select few still take this sort of stance toward two men sharing an on-screen kiss, and it would be interesting to hear why it’s so distressing for them.

‘Same-sex couples exist and there is nothing different about their sharing a kiss than any other couple. We applaud programmes like Coronation Street, EastEnders and Hollyoaks for continuing to include and embrace these relationships and represent and support the lesbian, gay, bi and trans community, and hope that other programmes continue to follow suit.’