Through nearly seven season of The Walking Dead, we have still yet to see Norman Reedus’ character, Daryl Dixon, embark on a romantic relationship. There has been a lot of speculation and hope that Daryl would eventually hook up with Carol, and we may have seen an inkling of that prospect two weeks ago during a heartfelt Daryl and Carol reunion.
In the midst of a European tour in support of The Walking Dead, Reedus recently spoke of that possibility with UK Express, saying that there is a “spark” of something between them.
“There’s a definitely a spark of a relationship there. I can’t tell you other stuff or if it’s going to happen or if it has already happened though.”
There wouldn’t be a “spark” if it weren’t going to be a fire, right?
In either case, the Daryl or Carol question was nearly moot, as Daryl relayed to another British paper, The Daily Mirror, this week. As longtime followers of the series may recall, rumors that Daryl could be gay surfaced in 2013 and 2014, and it’s long been a possibility for the series. In fact, two years ago, Norman Reedus told Conan O’Brien that , if he were gay, he would “rock that story[line].”
In truth, the idea that Norman Reedus’ character could be gay originated with the series’ original co-creator, Frank Darabont, in the series’ first season.
“There was a time on the show where Frank was going to have me be gay, but he won’t admit it,” he confessed. “If he admits it’s like he’ll kill you. He referred to it as ‘prison gay’, and I didn’t know what that meant.” He continued, “We were there and he said ‘what do you think if we made Daryl gay?’ and I was like let’s do it, let’s do it!” He was like ‘I knew I picked the right guy for this job!'”
Darabont has since departed from The Walking Dead, but the rumors still linger despite Robert Kirkman’s insistence that it won’t happen. As Reedus tells it, Tom Payne — who plays Jesus — has fanned the flames on Instagram as a way to accrue more followers.
“It never happened obviously, but I’m not against it and if it happened I would be down for it and I’d try to kick ass at it but I don’t know if that’s where we’re going with it,” he explained. “It hasn’t come up other than fans, and Tom [Payne] joking about it.”
In the meantime, we’ll always have the Daryl and Rick bromance.
The Walking Dead returns this Sunday, and rumors suggest the episode could see complications in the relationship between Michonne and Rick arise.
(Via UK Express and The Daily Mirror)
