Mild spoilers for those who aren't current on The Walking Dead's storyline.
When Thomas Payne's Jesus first appeared in the live-action Walking Dead universe, audiences were immediately invested in watching him outmaneuver Rick and Daryl, and seeing how he functioned within the Hilltop Colony. But because we are all human, the conversation has now turned to sexuality, and the Internet was recently taken by storm by comments the actor made about Jesus potentially being gay. Perhaps things were taken slightly out of context, though, as Payne said this when asked about having insinuated Jesus' homosexuality:
Yeah, he's... a possibility. I just checked my messages this morning and everyone's like, 'Tom Payne Confirms...' but I didn't confirm. I just said in the comic books he is, and there is no reason why he wouldn't be in the show.
It's so not like the Internet to take anything too far, right? Regardless of what people think he meant, though, the important part is what will actually be happening on the show, and that remains to be seen by viewers. It is entirely possible, though, that there is a moment coming later in Season 7 that hints at where Jesus' interests lie that Thomas Payne has already shot, so he might already know one way or the other. But since any attempts to take him down and get information would just lead to him bamboozling us and escaping, we'll have to look to the show and comics.
In giving his answer to TMZ, Thomas Payne mentions that Jesus is gay in the source material, which is indeed the case. In fact, he was a well-established fan favorite character for a while before that reveal even showed up, so it could feasibly be another year or more before The Walking Dead's TV universe even approaches tackling Jesus' love life. At this point in the story, after Negan came in wrecked some of the show's most important relationships, there isn't much pressure to shoehorn romances into the lesser-seen characters lives. On the flip side, maybe the increased pressure of rebelling against Negan would make Jesus want to create bigger connections with others.
Currently, Jesus and a newly courageous Carl are on a mission to locate the Sanctuary, though it's hard to know exactly how that side of things will play out. (And let's not get into a discussion about Jesus and Carl doing...anything together.) Jesus hasn't really had many personal connections in his limited time onscreen, though he did bond with Sasha in the recent Hilltop-centered episode, and she's the reason he's on tracking duty. But that was obviously sourced to emotions very dissimilar to adoration or sexual attraction. No hook-ups for them. Probably.
The Walking Dead death with the backlash from Denise's death coming so soon after she and Tara connected, as well as how the show handled Tara finding out. (Denise wasn't with women in the comics, so the show obviously doesn't mind changing things up on that front.) And Jesus' situation is extremely reminiscent of conversations that swirled around Daryl a few years ago, when his sexuality was thrown into question due to all of the sex he wasn't having with Carol and Beth over the years. Even though we know Daryl's not gay (at least officially), people still question it, and the same will probably happen with Jesus if nothing definitive gets revealed soon. But yeah, if we're worrying about whose bed Jesus' boots are going under, at least that means we're not worrying about him getting killed soon, which can't be said about Daryl.
For the record, here's how Thomas Payne feels about if the world is ready for gay Jesus.
Absolutely. I think we're in the right place. I think it'd be awesome.
Regardless of who he'll be making out with, or if he'll even be doing that, Jesus will be back on The Walking Dead Sunday night on AMC.
