All About 90210s Gay Teen

The CW's teen soap 90210 is getting a lot of buzz thanks to news that one of its characters is coming out next season, and producer Rebecca Sinclair talked to Entertainment Weekly about the new plot line.

The gay character is Teddy (played by Trevor Donovan, pictured), a blond tennis pro and son of a celebrity. Sinclair told EW's Michael Ausiello that it was important for viewers to know Teddy first before he came out so they could sympathize with his struggle and not see him as the token gay character. Sinclair added that it will be a more difficult coming-out for Teddy than it was for Adrianna, a character who recently discovered she was bisexual: "Though, thankfully, we live in an age where lots of teens are comfortable with their sexual orientation and are able to come out when they're in high school or even before, we didn't want to ignore the reality that for lots of kids the road to self-acceptance for a gay teenager isn't easy."

Sinclair stated that the show won't hold back in depictions of Teddy's new relationships with men, including a funny and openly gay character named Kyle. Ausiello asked Sinclair how Donovan reacted upon hearing his character was coming out. After initially being surprised, Sinclair said, "he was excited by the idea of telling the story of a character's journey that would mean a lot to gay teenagers and other teenagers who are learning to be honest about who they are and what they feel."