Emmerdale fans heap praise on positive Heartstopper-esque coming out story for Arthur

Fans of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale have been praising it recently as Arthur Thomas’ (Alfie Clarke) tale after his courageous coming out continues.

Last year, the teen came out to Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) in heartfelt scenes, telling her he is gay while playing hangman.

Following initial trepidation, Arthur also came out to his mother, Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy), who encouraged him and remarked that “love is love.” Everyone experiences love the same way. And nobody else has any say in who you entrust your heart to.

In a recent episode, Arthur’s crush for Marshall, a classmate, became clear (Max Fletcher).

Sadly, Marshall humiliated him in front of his friends as he tried to explain his feelings, and he had his heart broken in the process.

This week, Marshall had a dramatic transformation as he made the decision to make amends for his past mistakes by standing up for Arthur against a disruptive student.

The two teenagers later shared a moment at the cafe after Arthur, who was preparing a special LGBTQ+ assembly, was shocked by what happened and realized Marshall was on his side after all.

That evening, when Marshall’s presentation was postponed, Arthur was sitting by himself outside the pirate ship.

When his friend revealed that, although he did make a bet with friends a few weeks earlier, he didn’t actually realize they were listening in when he said all of those things, implying that he does actually have feelings for Arthur, Arthur was taken aback and questioned whether he could trust Marshall.

Marshall leaned in for a kiss after they decided to go on a date, but it was cut short when his dad’s phone rang.

Arthur was left alone once more as Marshall stormed out, claiming he had no business being there.

Fans have adored every single scene so far in the tale, which has been tremendously dramatic and moving.

arthur and marshall are so sweet #emmerdale
— eva t (@_evaturner) January 31, 2023

Oh Arthur & Marshall 😢 Go for it son! 👏🏻 #emmerdale
— randomone (@Onelifee3) January 31, 2023

#Emmerdale Awww Arthur and Marshall ❤️
— Georgia_DD (@GeorgiaBowring) January 31, 2023

Oh, Marshall and Arthur! One Twitter user remarked, “Go for it son!,” while another added, “Arthur and Marshall are so nice.”

The story has been so well received that many people are comparing it to Netflix’s Heartstopper, which follows teenagers Charlie and Nick as they learn their seemingly unlikely friendship might be more.

The LGBTQ+ drama about friendship and youthful love has won numerous honors as Charlie and Nick navigate school and their young love.

Fans of Emmerdale can’t help but see parallels between Arthur and Marshall and Charlie and Nick.

I think the Arthur and Marshall storyline will end up happy #emmerdale have seen how successful #heartstopper has been
— Ben Powell (@Ben6987) January 12, 2023

Pondering over the recent scenes, one fan said: ‘I think the Arthur and Marshall storyline will end up happy. Have seen how successful Heartstopper has been’.

It’s ‘lovely’ he’s somehow found ‘comfort’ in Marshall, but it’s very ‘Heartstopper’ for me… fancying my best friend in comp lost me a best friend. I know it’s only a soap, maybe I’m just jealous that Arthur’s ‘life’ seems all sunshine and rainbows… mine wasn’t 😭😂 #Emmerdale
— DAN. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@D4N7O) February 1, 2023

I really like this Arthur Heartstopper-esque story. #emmerdale
— Corey Terrett (@terrettcorey) January 31, 2023

@emmerdale Copying #Heartstopper or what? #Emmerdale
— Carole ☘️ (@mrscarter22) January 31, 2023

I feel like the Arthur's sl will be similar to heartstopper which'll be nice 🙂 he'll be able to help Marshall learn to accept himself <3 #emmerdale
— Pixxalt (@_Pixxalt) January 31, 2023

This Twitter user echoed the sentiments by writing, “I really appreciate this Arthur Heartstopper-esque narrative.”