Kit Connor: Heartstopper season 3 sex scenes are 'really sweet & tender'

We're just days out from the premiere of Heartstopper's highly anticipated third season and star Kit Connor has opened up about the show's upcoming sex scenes, telling Radio Timesthat they'll handled in "a very Heartstopper way."

"The focus is on the difficulties of knowing when you’re ready and what it is to be a young queer person," Connor shared. "There isn’t as much representation in the industry of queer sex and often it’s represented as being much more advanced and very highly sexualized. This is really sweet and tender."

Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman believes the depiction of sex between Charlie and Nick will be "really helpful" for young LGBTQ+ people feeling anxious about intimacy.

"I think teenagers today have so much pressure on them to have sex as early as possible," they said. "It feels like everyone’s doing it. All your friends are saying you should be doing it. The internet is saying you should be doing it. Lots of teen media says you should, too."

Season 3's sex storyline "is very focused on the emotional side of it. It’s [about] the characters are asking questions like, ‘Am I ready to have sex? How do I know if my partner is also ready? What if it’s really awkward and embarrassing because I don’t know what I’m doing?'”

"Hopefully," Oseman added, "that will be relatable for a lot of young people."

The official description of the season reads, "Charlie would like to tell Nick that he loves him. Nick also has something important to say to Charlie. As the summer holiday ends and the months race on, the friends begin to realise that the school year will come with both its joys and its challenges. As they learn more about each other and their relationships, plan social events and parties and start thinking about university choices, everyone must learn to lean on those they love when life doesn't go to plan."

Heartstopper's third season premieres October 3 on Netflix.