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"Downton Abbey" Season 5: Thomas Will Look For A Gay Cure

If you're a Downton Abbey fan, brace yourself and maybe bring out the smelling salts, as there are spoilers ahead. In the upcoming fifth season of the acclaimed British show, premiering statewide next year, Thomas Barrow, the gay footman, will experiment with some "quackery" in attempts to pray away his gay, according to show creator Julian Fellowes.

“He falls for the quackery that this can be cured, that he can get rid of this dumbbell he is dragging around with him," Fellowes said in a video interview for ITV. "His fortitude takes him through a period of incredible physical discomfort. The result he seeks is impossible — it’s not to be obtained by any medical treatment; it was just quackery.”

“He wants to be able to love, so he embarks on quite a dark and serious journey rooted in his sexuality to try and change how he is," added Rob James-Collier, the actor who plays Barrow. James-Collier thinks Thomas's sexuality and society's treatment of homosexuality are to blame for his character's villainous behavior. 

“I really wanted to get down to why Thomas was how he is. For me, I made the choice it was his sexuality," James-Collier explained. “You wake up every morning and your religion is telling you you’re condemned. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of men like Thomas did do this, because what was the alternative? There wasn’t one.”

Downton Abbey is currently airing in the UK but it premieres in the US January 4 on PBS.

h/t: PinkNews

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