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Noah Schnapp has confirmed his ‘Stranger Things’ character Will Byers is gay.

He added Will is in love with his best friend Mike Wheeler, and said he was previously careful about discussing the topic to avoid spoilers for fans of the show.

The 17-year-old actor told Variety: “Obviously, it was hinted at in Season 1 – it was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends? Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing.

“Now it’s 100 per cent clear that he is gay and he does love Mike. But before, it was a slow arc.”

He stressed not making Will “all of the sudden be gay” was done “beautifully” by show bosses the Duffer brothers, and he preferred the slow pacing.

Noah added: “They are writing this real character and this real journey and real struggle and they’re doing it so well.

“I think it has been tricky. Years ago in Season 1, I didn’t know where the Duffers wanted to go with this character. So I was kind of figuring it out along with the audience.

“But now that I’ve spoken to them and seen the show, I know what they want to do with it.

“I really have to take into account, like, this isn’t just a single layer thing of he’s struggling with coming out… he was taken by the Demogorgon and then his friends, they never acknowledged him, and now he’s scared to come out and doesn’t know if they’ll accept him.”

Stranger Things 4 volume two started on July 1, with writing staff set expected to return to work on the next series in August, which is not set to begin until 2023.