Actor John Cho has revealed that a same-sex “welcome-home” kiss between two male characters was edited out of Star Trek Beyond.

Earlier this month Cho confirmed to reporters that his character, Sulu (originally played by George Takei), is gay and has a spouse and child.

He told Vulture that a kiss “welcome-kiss” between Sulu and his partner was cut from the final edit of the movie. “It wasn’t like a make-out session,” said Cho. “We’re at the airport with our daughter. It was a welcome-home kiss.”

“I’m actually proud of that scene, because it was pretty tough…I just wanted that to look convincingly intimate. We’re two straight guys and had to get to a very loving, intimate place. It was hard to do on the fly. We had to open up. It came off well, in my view.”

Last month, original Mr Sulu, George Takei, said the decision to reveal the character’s sexual orientation in Star Trek Beyond was “unfortunate”.

The 79 year-old actor and gay rights activist told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m delighted that there’s a gay character.”

“Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s creation, into which he put so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate.”

Takei added that, in his opinion, a character who came of age in the 23rd century would never be in the closet anyway, so ‘outing’ Sulu might confuse viewers.