Why Doctor Who guest star Nicola Coughlan is a modern gay icon

Nicola Coughlan is officially a certified gay icon, and not just because she’s about to star in the Doctor Who Christmas special with incredibly talented queer actor Ncuti Gatwa.

The 37-year-old Irish actor, who rose to fame as Clare the “wee lesbian” on Derry Girls before playing  Penelope Featherington in the hit romance Bridgerton, will be gracing our screens over the festive period as a guest star on the Doctor Who Christmas special: “Joy to the World”.

Showrunner Russell T Davies revealed that Nicola Coughlan will star as the Doctor’s (Ncuti Gatwa) “Christmas companion”, the titular Joy, a traveller who gets wrapped up in the Doctor’s time-jumping escapades.

Explaining more about the special’s storyline, Davies shared: “It’s a time hotel. You can book a room there and the door goes through to anywhere in history.

“So it was called Christmas everywhere, all at once. You can go to the Blitz in World War II, you can go to Pompeii… you could go to anywhere.

“Obviously, it’s Doctor Who, there’s a secret plan going on with a mysterious briefcase being smuggled upstairs, people are about to end the world. It’s very exciting,” he continued.

Coughlan may be a guest star in Doctor Who and a central character in Bridgerton but her dream as a child was to “to be one of the Gay Icons,” she revealed in her Harper’s Bazaar op-ed.

She wrote: “When I was a little girl, I wanted to be one of the Gay Icons. “Bette Midler as CC Bloom? God, that’s so me!” thought six-year-old Nicola.

“I never sought to be the ingénue, purely because they never seemed to get the best lines or looked as if they were having the most fun.”

Without further ado, here are all the reasons why Nicola Coughlan is a modern-day gay icon:

Her Pride Month debut single

Nicola Coughlan is not just a TV star. Far from it. She’s also a pop diva!

She released her debut single just in time for Pride Month, the track inspired by queer icons and also Bravo’s The Real Housewives franchise.

Coughlan track, “Shoes… More Shoes,” benefited LGBTQ+ organisations with funds going to trans charity Not A Phase, and The Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ individuals.

The track came about after a comment Coughlan made in a Hits Radio UK interview went viral: “You know when the Real Housewives release pop songs exclusively for gay men. That’s like my dream job,” she said.

“They don’t even really sing. They just list things. They’re like, ‘Shoes, and private yachts. Caviar, and more shoes.’”

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She campaigned for same-sex marriage

Nicola Coughlan has proved she can voice a pop hit, but she’s also backed the LGBTQ+ community in another equally vocal manner. 

In Ireland, Coughlan campaigned door-to-door during the 2015 referendum backing the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

She has repeatedly used her platform to advocate for women’s rights, abortion laws and LGBTQ+ people, which only adds to our love of her. 

In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Coughlan shared that LGBTQ+ rights were a social issue she is particularly passionate about. 

She said: “I play a gay character in Derry Girls and I realised the responsibility of taking that on at a time when, in Northern Ireland, gay marriage still wasn’t legal.”

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Doing it for the girls, gays and theys

LGBTQ+ ally and gay icon Nicola Coughlan has made it clear that she’s doing it all for the girls, gays and theys.

Upon being told she’d achieved gay icon status, Coughlan replied: “That’s all I want, is the girls and the gays. And Luke [Newton]. And nice boys. Girls, gays and nice boys. And they/thems.

“Ok, I want a lot. A couple of straight men, but mainly the girls, gays and theys. That’s what I care about.”

She’s vocal, positive and proud when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community; she makes it clear that she loves her lesbian, gay, bi and trans fans and she is constant and unwavering in her support.

All of this adds up to one unassailable fact: Nicola Coughlan is a certified gay icon.