High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 3 premiered on July 27, 2022, and some of the recent episodes had fans wondering about Ricky Bowen’s (played by Joshua Bassett) sexuality. Keep reading to uncover everything the cast and crew has said about Ricky’s sexuality.
Why Do Fans Think Ricky is Gay in ‘HSMTMTS’?
In the latest episode aired on August 3, Ricky approaches EJ (Matt Cornett) and talked about his excitement for auditions, and how they could both play the male leads again. “Those guys. There’s two of them. They’re friends? Enemies? Lovers?” he says, then looks right into the camera, before EJ, who seemingly is uncomfortable, quickly leaves the conversation.
The moment was not missed by fans, who immediately took to Twitter after watching episode 2. “‘They’re uh friends, enemies, lovers…’ Is Ricky gay?” asked one fan on Twitter. Another gave a nice rundown on the recent episode, “This episode: Ricky looking good, EJ looking good, them looking good together and at each other. Their little ‘lovers’ line and pillow fight? Yeah bi Ricky and gay EJ… come to me!” wrote another.
What Have the Writers Said About Ricky’s Sexuality in ‘HSMTMTS’?
HSMTMTS creator and showrunner Tim Federle recently revealed a possible queer storyline for Joshua’s character in season 3 in an interview with Digital Spy.
“I think particularly for Ricky this season, he’s got some big things to figure out. He ends up going to summer camp, feeling like: ‘It’s going to be a summer of fun, and I’m not getting involved romantically. My last entire year has been the obsession of trying to figure my romantic life out,’” he continued. “And as so often happens, the best-laid plans go up in smoke when someone important distracts you. So I think he’s definitely on a big arc this season.”
What Has Joshua Said About Ricky’s Sexuality in ‘HSMTMTS’?
Joshua himself recently came out in May 2021, in an Instagram video of the star singing. In August 2021, he told Attitude Magazine that it was one of the most “liberating” and “easiest” things he’s ever done. “It all came out at once and I was like, yep, let’s post it. And I felt really great about it, and I never looked back.”
As for his character Ricky on HSMTMTS, the singer also told the outlet that he’s “super open” to Ricky having a coming out storyline.
“I trust the writers, and I trust Disney to do what’s best, and you know what, I would love that. I’m down for whatever they choose,” he said. “All of that’s out of my control, I don’t have a say in that, but yeah, that would be great.”
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