The actor who plays a leading Game of Thrones character has come out as gay, saying he had been “waiting for someone to ask about” his sexuality.

Kristian Nairn, who plays Hodor in the hit series, came out in an interview with winteriscoming.net, after he was asked whether he knew that his character had a big following within the gay community.

He said: “Well, in all honesty, when you talk about ‘the gay community,’ you are talking about my community, haha.”

“I’ve never hidden my sexuality from anyone, my whole life in fact, and I’ve been waiting for someone to ask about it in an interview, cos it’s not something you just blurt out. I’ve tried to lead the questions a few times, to no avail!

“It’s a very small part of who I am on the whole, but none the less, in this day and age, it’s important to stand up and be counted.”

Hodor is the first major character played by Nairn. The only word he ever speaks in the series is his name.