Rachel Zegler sternly addresses Kit Connor romance rumours

Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor during the opening night curtain call for “Romeo + Juliet” on Broadway at The Circle in the Square Theatre on October 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)

Romeo + Juliet actress Rachel Zegler has reacted to a claim that she’s romantically “obsessed” with her co-star Kit Connor, who also plays Nick Nelson in hit LGBTQ+ Netflix series Heartstopper.

The talented duo are currently appearing in a Broadway adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the famous Shakespeare play about two doomed young lovers, however, Zegler was quick to quash rumours of any real-life romance with Connor in the comments of an Instagram post she shared on Sunday (December 29).

The post was captioned: “moments of joy and dreams coming true. happy new year, all. be good to each other” and featured snapshots of her experiences in 2024, including an image of her standing behind Connor and holding his shoulders as he took a mirror selfie, and a second photo of Connor carrying Zegler.

The post went viral and racked up 500,000 likes, and scores of comments. But there was one comment in particular that Zegler seemed to find quite irritating.

“I think Rachel is so obsessed with Kit Connor in a romantic way not just a friend way,” read the fan comment. To which Zegler replied, succinctly: “No! moving on.”

Plenty of fans backed Zegler up in subsequent comments, with one writing: “I’m so tired of people saying you and Kit like each other romantically you guys just have a really good friendship!!”

Kit Connor has previously spoken out about how fan speculation like this can be at best, annoying and at worst, actively harmful – after he was forced to come out as bisexual on X (then Twitter) in 2022.

After he was pictured hand-in-hand with his A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow co-star Maia Reficco, furious Heartstopper fans accused him of “queerbaiting” by refusing to clarify his sexuality.

“I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself,” he wrote. “I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye.”

In a 2023 interview with British Vogue, he spoke about the effect of Heartstopper’s success.

“You feel a bit watched… I’m still in my formative years, so things I wouldn’t want to be watched doing are,” he said, adding that he gets particularly upset with fans tracking down his family on social media, as “they didn’t sign up for it”.

Romeo + Juliet, directed by Sam Gould, opened in October 2024 and is set to run until February 2025.