The openly gay actor, who plays Ste Hay on the Channel 4 soap, has received a number of insulting messages in recent days following a mix-up involving his namesake, footballer Kieran Richardson.
© Ian West/PA Wire/Press Association Images
The online abuse began on Friday (July 11) after Kieran made headlines for joining Aston Villa after leaving Fulham.
Hollyoaks favourite Kieron received dozens of tweets from football fans who confused him with Villa's new signing, but the humorous mix-up took a darker turn when he saw that a number of the messages contained homophobic remarks.
Speaking out on his weekly Gaydio radio show today (July 13), Kieron argued that the situation proves homophobia within football is still a problem, although he stressed that the messages had come from "a minute section" of fans.
He explained: "It's made me feel very sad for the past couple of days. I share the same name as a footballer who signed for Aston Villa on Friday. Sky Sports were talking about this story and used my photograph instead of the footballer Kieran Richardson. Also, Aston Villa Official - their website - used the same photograph.
"At first I didn't think anything of it and thought it was quite funny, until I went onto my Twitter feed and people genuinely thought I'd left Hollyoaks and signed for Aston Villa.
"Being openly gay, [I] was targeted with abuse [from people] going, 'You gay blah blah blah, we're not having you playing for our team'. [It was] homophobic abuse all night long. At first I thought, 'I'm not having this, I'm going to stick up for myself'. I started to reply to a few people, which spurred it on even more."
Kieron as Ste in Hollyoaks
The soap star confirmed that it is the first time he has experienced homophobia from the public since revealing his sexuality in 2010.
He said: "Since being openly gay, [I've] never, never suffered from homophobic abuse at all. The demographic of Hollyoaks goes literally from little children to nanas and granddads. We've got a wide spectrum of people watching the show.
"I've never received homophobic abuse, but as soon as my name is associated with football, I've been opened up to this horrific Twitter feed that I have to see."
Kieron as Ste in Hollyoaks
Admitting that he was shocked by the reaction, he continued: "I thought, 'Yeah, we're in the 21st century and actually homophobia's more or less been stamped out', because I've never really felt that or heard it from anybody before until now.
"If anything, I know that I'm gay, you can tweet me and tell me I'm gay - it's not a shock to me. I know what I get up to in the bedroom and I'm not sad about that.
"I am sad for other people and their attitudes. If this case has now stopped one person from coming out and has frightened them, then it's a terrible situation."
Earlier this year, Kieron was named Rising Star of the Year at the Out in the City/G3 Readers Awards, which recognise outstanding commitment to promoting equality and diversity in relation to the LGBT community.
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