The Walking Dead’s Khary Payton Addresses “Awkward” Michonne-Ezekiel Kiss

The Walking Dead star Khary Payton admits his Season 10 kiss with Michonne (Danai Gurira) was more awkward than steamy.

“Michonne and Ezekiel have a kiss, and everybody’s all a’Twitter about the Michonne-Ezekiel kiss,” Payton said on the Talking Dead‘s Season 10 preview special. “I think I actually kissed Danai on the lips twice, it was mostly just upper nose. We’re too brotherly-sisterly for this thing. It was just very awkward, so many times. But you know, there’s gonna be a lot of speculation, there already has been, so we’ll see.”

What brings the two together? “You get lost in the woods, you get bored, things happen,” Payton joked.

Gurira was similarly tight-lipped when asked about the encounter, telling EW with a laugh, “I really can’t say much of anything, what do you want me to tell you?”

Because both Ezekiel and ex Carol (Melissa McBride) have each outlived their comic book counterparts, it’s more difficult to determine what’s in store for the former couple in Season 10. Carol has inherited a storyline belonging to comic book Michonne, at least in part, which could mark Ezekiel for death.

When audiences see him next as leader of “Kingtop” following the merging of the Kingdom and Hilltop communities, the grieving father is weighing his options and debating revenge against Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) for killing son Henry (Matt Lintz).

“Of course he wants revenge. He’s always been the guy who acts after thought,” Payton said on Talking Dead. “When Rick and the gang came to meet him, he didn’t rush into the fight with Negan. When Carol said ‘It’s time to fight,’ [he said], ‘Yes, but not today.’ He’s always thinking about action, but wanting to think his way through it. I think dealing with his whole guilt thing on top of that, he’s not gonna rush in. He’s not Carol, who’s just like, ‘Let me find something flammable and throw it on somebody.’”

The Walking Dead Season 10 begins Sunday, October 6 on AMC.