Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (April 4, 2008)

WHAT'S GAY IN THE U.K.? JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING!

Right now there is so much gay stuff going on across the pond that I actually had to create a separate heading just to cover it all. Must...not...hate...the...English...

I GUESS IT WILL BE UNTIL DEATH THEN AND IT SOUNDS AS IF THAT WON'T BE VERY LONG
AfterElton.com reader SJ wrote tipped us off that things aren't looking very bright for recently wed Emmerdale couple, Paul (Matthew Bose) and Grayson (Richard Grieves). It was only last month that month that two were wed and now comes word that Grieves has been axed from the show.

SJ says that fans are assuming some terrible fate will befall Jonny and it will somehow be the result of an earlier affair that Paul had with their married friend Grayson, who is also leaving the show. No doubt Paul will be wracked with terrible guilt which can only be assuaged by the addition of a hot new boyfriend.

Don't fret about the loss of the gay Jonny and closeted Grayson as Coronation Street is adding Ted Paige as an openly gay father coming back to make peace with the daughter he never knew. Meanwhile, over on Eastenders Oliver Beale (Aaron Sidwell) has a storyline coming up where he comes to terms with his bisexuality, although it looks he will leave that soap shortly thereafter.

As if that isn't enough news about gay soaps in the U.K., we now have word that the teen drama Skins — which features the out Maxxie (Mitch Hewer) — is set to shake things up by ditching the whole cast and starting over at the end of the current season, its second. Apparently this is something they plan to do every two years. Note to Grey's Anatomy: That's one way to have to keep from paying escalating salaries!

Variety reports Hollyoaks has already garnered international interest with versions set for Spain, Romania and even possibly the U.S. Time's blogger James Poniewozik suggested HBO remake the show for U.S. audiences which I think is a great idea.

I've written before about out actor Russell Tovey who played Rudge in The History Boys and more recently, a werewolf in Being Human (where he gets kind of nekkid). AfterElton.com reader Sarah emailed to say she recently posted edited excerpts of the actor's gay role in the British series Annually Retentive. There are five parts which you can watch here, but here is one very funny clip where Russell's character, Ben, clues a straight co-worker in on all the gay lingo. Sort of like Marc with Wilhelmina on Ugly Betty, but Marc would never describe himself as "straight-acting".

You can watch Ben's whole storyline here.

Finally, we've written a lot about the John Paul/Craig storyline on the U.K. sudser Hollyoaks and how great we think it is. Well, we're not the only ones who think so. AfterElton.com reader Groovyad tipped us off that the website DigitalSpy recently announced the winner of their soap awards and James Sutton, who plays the out John Paul McQueen, snagged the Best Actor Award. Even better, his tulmutuous relationship with Craig (now sadly over) won for Best Storyline. Here is James talking about the win and what might upcoming for him and Craig.