Eastenders actor John Partridge has branded Coronation Street’s Sean Tully as a sterotypical ‘tea time gay.’

Admitting that the success of Sean was what inspired Eastenders to introduce their own gay man to the soap, John (who plays Christian) said that he hoped his character is more believable.

John told Attitude magazine:

“What I didn’t want as a stereotype was what I call a tea-time gay. That Sean Tully type of character is the reason my character is here.

“I’ve worked in theatre for 20 years and there are lots of queens in the West End that look and act like that.

“I’m not going to diss his performance or his style, or say ‘Who does he think he’s representing?’ because he is representing one of those shades of gay.

“It may not be your taste, but if that character hadn’t happened and been so successful, I don’t think the BBC would have gone, ‘Right, we need a gay character.’”

On the current love triangle between his character Christian, Syed and Amira John said:

“It’s groundbreaking for a soap to address sexuality and religion.

“I’m a gay man, my family are Christians, and I’m sure there’s a part of them that goes, ‘I don’t really agree with that,’ but they get on with it.”