When The Walking Dead Almost Made Daryl Dixon Gay Revealed

Homosexual characters are no strange thing on AMC‘s The Walking Dead. Season 7 has a cast full of characters who are interested in the characters of the same gender. Tara, Aaron, Eric, and soon-to-be-revealed Paul “Jesus” Rovia are all of the same-sex sexuality.

While Daryl Dixon‘s sexuality on the show has never been outright addressed within the confines of The Walking Dead‘s story but, as it turns out, he was almost going to be the show’s first gay character (a title given to Alanna Masterson’s Tara Chambler character).

UP NEXT: Jesus’ Sexuality Will Soon Be Revealed

It was back in the early days of the AMC series, when original showrunner Frank Darabont was still on board, that Reedus learned his character was going to be gay.

“There was a time on the show where Frank [Darabont] was going to have me be gay, but he won’t admit it,” Reedus told the Mirror Online. “If he admits it’s like he’ll kill you. He referred to it as ‘prison gay,’ and I didn’t know what that meant.”

The conversation between Darabont and Reedus took place on the way to a party for the 2010 film, The Fighter, as Reedus recalls.

“We were there and he said ‘what do you think if we made Daryl gay?’ and I was like let’s do it, let’s do it!” Reedus explained. “He was like ‘I knew I picked the right guy for this job!’”

As fans of the AMC series know, nothing ever came of that conversation, possibly because Darabont departed the show years ago and before such a storyline could be fulfilled. Reedus, however, is still up for it.

“It never happened obviously, but I’m not against it and if it happened I would be down for it and I’d try to kick a** at it but I don’t know if that’s where we’re going with it,” he explained. “It hasn’t come up other than fans, and Tom [Payne] joking about it.”

Payne plays Jesus on The Walking Dead, who is expected to reveal his sexual orientation in the coming episodes. “Yeah, [he] will be,” Payne told ComicBook.com. “I can’t tell you how that might be addressed in the show or how it would come across, but yeah. Essentially he is the same as he is the comic books in that regard.”

MORE WALKING DEAD: Did We Just Meet The Whisperers? / Gallery Of Rick And Michonne Getting It On / Another Sign Michonne Is Taking Andrea’s Place / ‘Say Yes’ Recap With Spoilers / Nicotero On Sasha And Rosita’s Mission / The Sixteen Candles Tribute In ‘Say Yes’

The Walking Dead TV series airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.