’Ted Lasso’: Who Is Colin Hughes? Show’s First LGBTQ+ Character
Ted Lasso fans feel vindicated after the most recent episode of Ted Lasso, titled “4-5-1.” Besides the arrival of eccentric Zava and the teams’ amazing form, some players found themselves in difficult situations. While Jamie needs to figure out how to become the team leader, Colin hides his personal life from his teammates and the public. Fan theories suggested for years that Colin is gay, and fans can rejoice because they were right. This article will discuss Ted Lasso’s character Colin Hughes, the first confirmed LGBTQ+ character in the series.
Colin Hughes is a left winger of AFC Richmond and one of the “class clowns” of the team. Fans have noticed hints of Colin’s sexuality since season one of Ted Lasso, and season three, episode three of the series finally confirmed what everyone suspected. Colin is seen with his partner Michael kissing at the beginning of the episode but also hiding their relationship in front of Richmond players. At the end of the episode, we see Colin and Michael kissing in the alleyway and Trent spotting them from afar, which hints at possibly Colin’s “outing” or support from the former Independent writer.
In the rest of the article, we will discuss this topic by mentioning Colin’s journey throughout the series, why fans speculated about his sexuality so early in Ted Lasso, and what his “outing” meant for the football world in the show.
Who is Colin Hughes?
Colin Hughes has been part of the AFC Richmond since the beginning of Ted Lasso. Originally, he is a Welshman who played for Cardiff City before joining Richmond and a left winger for the team. When Ted Lasso became a team manager, he mistakenly thought Colin was from England, which didn’t sit well for the Wales-born player.
In season one of Ted Lasso, Colin befriended Isaac McAdoo, the centreback of the team, and the duo was part of the Jamie Tartt “clique” to bully then kit-man Nathan Shelley. Of course, that didn’t end up well within the team, and the bullying was stopped by Ted and Roy, who exposed Jamie as a perpetrator.
Colin continued to be a supporting character in the series, and the atmosphere of the Richmond locker room got much better, especially after Jamie Tartt left the club and Nate was promoted as one of the coaches.
Colin is a strange character and a “class clown” in the locker room who doesn’t know how to drive – this has been a joke stemming from the series’ first season. However, after Nate was promoted to team assistant coach, he started bullying Colin as revenge for what the player had done to the kit man.
Nate’s pettiness resurfaced, showing that he didn’t learn anything from past experiences, while Colin was always willing to reveal his vulnerability and struggles to the team. When dr. Sarah Fieldstone joins the team as a sport psychologist; she teaches Colin a mantra he uses today: “I am a strong and capable man.”
He always showed that he wanted to improve as a man, which earned him the respect of his teammates. Of course, fans caught on to the Grindr comment in season two when Colin suggested that the team’s dating app sponsor Bantr reminds him of a gay dating app.
However, the fan theory that Colin is gay only existed “outside” of the show, which foreshadowed a lot of plot points of future Ted Lasso episodes.
One of the best Colin moments happened when Jamie returned to AFC Richmond and stood up to the former bully. That moment showed how much Colin grew in the series.
Colin is also really protective of his coaches and was one of the players who wanted to protect Ted from the media and “accusations” of his bad mental state.
Now, Colin is the focus of season three, and his story is important, especially if we consider gay football being harsh regarding one’s sexuality.
How will Colin’s “outing” affect the football world of Ted Lasso?
At the beginning of Episode three, Colin wakes up naked in someone’s bedroom. He gets dressed and proceeds downstairs to meet his partner, Michael. They exchange kisses and goodbyes, and he is considered a confirmed gay individual in the Ted Lasso series. We mentioned fans speculating a lot over the years, so this part of Colin maybe wasn’t a surprise; however, it would be to the media and his Richmond teammates.
Throughout the episode, Colin texts his partner and introduces him to his teammates at Sam’s restaurant, but only as a good friend. However, when they depart the gathering, Colin and Michael are shown to be in a passionate embrace which Trent sees and walks away.
Trent’s role is quite interesting in Ted Lasso because he was the one who released the story of Ted Lasso’s bad mental health, which made Richmond staff and players quite mad. Still, in episode two, Trent shows his worth to Ted, the players, and Rebecca and lets him follow them and write their story.
Trent seems like a good man, but there is still fear of him airing Colin’s sexuality which could be brutal for his football career. Ted Lasso writers seem to understand the football world regarding different sexualities since football fans in Europe aren’t the best examples of tolerance.
There have been maybe three male footballers “coming out” publicly in the last three decades, all of which aren’t playing in the top flights of football. Rumors, leeks, and occasional reports suggest that there are gay footballers among the top clubs, but they are hiding, knowing the outrage and attacks from certain “football fans.”
Colin’s story is important since it will probably be announced to the whole world, but we don’t know if someone will do it maliciously or with care, and that depends on individuals who know his secret.
Colin’s storyline is extremely important for season three of the show, and the Ted Lasso series knows that really well. Of course, we will have to wait and see what Trent will do with the information he learned, and hopefully, the Welshman won’t suffer too much.
In the end, Colin’s outing will affect the footballing world in Ted Lasso immensely, and for that, we cannot wait to see what will transpire in the next episodes of Ted Lasso, which we will watch next week.
