Billy has attempted to keep his romance with Sean
relatively low-key while settling in as the new vicar at St Mary's
Church, but upcoming episodes will see his personal life become more
public than he ever imagined.
When Billy and Sean's recent encounter with a homophobic pub landlord hits the front page of the Weatherfield Gazette,
it makes life difficult for Billy as he later faces a difficult meeting
with the Bishop, who has very conservative views on homosexuality.
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| Sean and Billy hit the headlines |
With the Bishop making his disapproval clear, Billy initially reacts
badly under pressure by lying to him, claiming that he and Sean have
already ended their relationship.
Antony Cotton,
who plays Sean, commented: "Billy is mortified about the newspaper
article. They are both embarrassed because they are on the front page
and everyone's talking about them, but Billy is embarrassed for
different reasons. Sean has always had his head stuck in gossip
magazines but now it's happening to him, he doesn't like the attention.
He realises that Billy has to be quite discreet, and his vocation
means he shouldn't really draw attention to himself. Billy ends
up telling the Bishop that he and Sean have split up. Sean is very upset
about that, because he feels as though Billy has had to lie for him,
and Sean never wanted him to do that. It's a difficult situation for
them."
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| Billy announces that he's going to resign as vicar |
Billy later realises that he has made a terrible mistake and pledges his
future to Sean, even offering to hand in his resignation in order to
put his new partner first.
Cotton continued: "It makes Sean
really sad that Billy feels it has to be one or the other. Sean usually
leads with his emotions, but in this case his head takes the lead and he
tells Billy that he can't do that and that he'd never ask him to do it
either. Sean is very selfless in this instance. He doesn't want
Billy to put him first, because Billy's job and vocation is what makes
Billy who he is. He tells Billy that he mustn't choose - he must stick
with his job and deal with the consequences."
Viewers will have
to wait and see exactly what the future holds for Billy and Sean as the
pressure mounts up, but Cotton added that he is pleased with the
reaction to the story so far.
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| Billy confesses he's in love with Sean |
He said: "I personally have enjoyed this storyline because it's so
unique and it hasn't been done in Corrie before. It's been handled in a
classic Corrie way, a perfect balance of comedy and tragedy. At the
centre of it is a really nice relationship which is really nice and
funny. It has been unique and it's created a discussion. The
response has been overwhelmingly positive and terrific, from
face-to-face in the supermarket to on social media. I've had loads of
tweets about it, it's been a really nice response."
