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McCalla is adamant that Conrad's support of Noah would never extend to coming out himself: “That would never happen. Just the kind of people that they are, as characters, it just wouldn't happen. I don't think Conrad would allow that. And I think Noah loves Conrad, so he's not gonna drop him in any trouble. I think that this is Noah's first infatuation. I don't know, ‘love' may be too strong a word, but he's infatuated by Conrad, so I don't think he's gonna [out him].”

McCalla says that there was no reaction to his character from people in sports. However, some audience members did object to Noah for other reasons.

“The only reaction [I got] was that, yeah, Noah is a footballer, and he's gay, but obviously he's black, and that's another [issue]. That's one of the things that I did and do face, is that people, especially in the black community, can't really deal with it that there's a gay black guy on TV. And I've had reactions from that, in a negative form. People on the street... remarks and stuff like that, you know. But that's part of the game, that's part of the job, [though] it's not very nice when it happens.”

He points out that those who are in interracial relationships can face a similar disapproval. “So I was on TV in a mixed relationship, and gay[laughs]. Double-whammy for the people that hate. But that's their lives, that's what they [bigots] think. And as long as they're not going around hurting anybody, then let them get on with it. Everybody has a right and a place on the earth, as long as nobody is getting hurt. And these people that look down on people... you know, that's their opinion, and they could be missing out on meeting some great people. And that's how I feel about it.”

Noah, however, is not able to be quite so philosophical about the disapproval directed at him. At the end of Season Three, having been outed in the national press, he was gay-bashed by a group of thugs. At the beginning of Season Four, he finds himself still facing pressure both from football fans and from his team-mates.

Feeling miserable and isolated, he decides to embark on an ‘ex-gay' program at the Church of the Found. The program is run by a man named Tim, who claims to have been ‘cured' of homosexuality and is now married with a daughter, Bethany. Noah and Bethany start dating, with Noah eventually agreeing to marry her. Nonetheless, Noah still struggles with his feelings toward men, including his old flame Conrad, as well a new teammate, Seb Webb.

McCalla has mixed feelings about the show's attempt to weave the dark theme of ‘ex-gay' programming in with its usual brand of campy entertainment. Referring to episode 4:5, in which Noah decides to attempt some aversion therapy with a staple gun, he says, “That's a serious matter there. And I don't think the show dealt with it that well, because it was just skimmed over, and then after that, you didn't see Noah for the next episode. In the fourth season, they cut a lot of stuff, and then they didn't ask me back for the fifth.

“And that's the way things are, that's the way shows go, but they didn't write the character out, they just left him, and I think that's unfair. If you want to talk about gay people not being represented, that's a misrepresentation of them, because [Noah's increasingly desperate attempts to ‘cure' his homosexuality were] totally glossed over, and then that was it.”

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