Ncuti Gatwa Defends Doctor Who Fan From Homophobic Abuse

Actor Ncuti Gatwa, who will be playing the fifteenth incarnation of the protagonist in the upcoming series of Doctor Who, has defended fans of the show against homophobic abuse. Talking directly to a fan in the direct message feature on Instagram, he expressed his sorrow for the verbal abuse they received and showed his support for the loyal fans of the iconic show.

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Twitter user Siobhan (@slinehan1) shared a screenshot of a homophobia-fueled message she received from a troll, in response to her expressing her desire to see gay representation in the show. Earlier this month, the BBC announced that theatre and screen star Jonathan Groff would be starring alongside Ncuti Gatwa in the new series, written by Russell T Davies. Some fans have speculated that the two characters might have a romantic connection, akin to Davies’ last stint as showrunner where he paired David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor with love interest Rose Tyler (Billie Piper).

In the comments of an Instagram post by the Official Doctor Who account, Siobhan was one of many who light-heartedly expressed a desire to see scenes of romance between the two characters. This led to a troll writing to her with a vile, homophobic message, which Siobhan then screenshot and posted on Twitter.

The troll called Siobhan a “f**king lunatic”, and an “insecure little b***h”, for jokingly suggesting a romantic connection between the two male leads could occur. They went onto use ableist language and suggested that the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content would cause the show to dip in ratings and alienate a large portion of the fanbase.

When Siobhan shared this response on Twitter, she immediately received a lot of support from fellow Doctor Who fans, many of whom are LGBTQ+ themselves. The level of support for Siobhan eventually caught the attention of Barbie movie star Ncuti Gatwa, who decided to send a direct message defending her against the abuse.

“I’m sorry you received such a horrible message from the awful guy. He’s been blocked and deleted from my account,” wrote Gatwa. “Reported him extensively. I can’t stand stuff like that. Really hope you’re okay. Lots of love, Ncuts."