Doctor Who star Pearl Mackie released an Instagram post sharing that she identifies as a bisexual woman.
Mackie posed with a rainbow cushion in a series of four photos in which she declared herself: “Proud to be bisexual.”
The 33 year-old actress originally made history for being the first female LGBT+ companion in Doctor Who’s history – alongside her co-star Peter Capaldi.
In her post, she added that she was: “Proud to be Black. Proud of all my LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters and everyone in between. We matter. You matter. Big love and nuff respect. Happy Pride everyone!”
Mackie, who played Bill Potts, left the show in 2017 after Capaldi was replaced by the current doctor, Jodie Whittaker – who became the first female doctor in the series.
In Capaldi’s final season, Mackie accompanied him across space and time alongside her girlfriend Heather.
The actress received praise from fans and other celebrities. Made In Chelsea’s Ollie Locke said: “I love you darling girl!! Forever and always proud of you”. Model Shanina Shaik simply said: “go girl!”
In an interview with Radio Times back in 2017, Mackie said she’d “never say never” to making a reappearance on the show in the future.
However, she added that: “I think I need more time, to be honest. I still feel quite close to Bill. I need to miss her before I want to play her again, you know?”
The actress last reprised her role as the historic lesbian character Bill Potts in the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special.
Doctor Who has showcased a number of LGBT+ characters in previous seasons. River Song and Captain Jack Harkness (played by Alex Kingston and John Barrowman respectively) were both omnisexual.
Pearl Mackie isn’t the only celebrity who came out this Pride month. Last weekend, Orange Is The New Black star Taylor Schilling shared photos of herself and her girlfriend.
© 2020 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
Support GCN
GCN has been a vital, free-of-charge information service for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community since 1988.
During this global COVID pandemic, we like many other organisations have been impacted greatly in the way we can do business and produce. This means a temporary pause to our print publication and live events and so now more than ever we need your help to continue providing this community resource digitally.
GCN is a registered charity with a not-for-profit business model and we need your support. If you value having an independent LGBTQ+ media in Ireland, you can help from as little as €1.99 per month. Support Ireland’s free, independent LGBTQ+ media.
comments. Please sign in to comment.