Danny Miller feared he was going to be sacked from Emmerdale before being given his career-changing storyline.
The actor played Aaron Dingle on the ITV soap for several years before recently deciding to step away from the show and he recounted how "nervous" he was when he was called into the production office for a meeting one day.
Danny told his fellow I'm A Celebrity campmates how he was convinced he would be booted from the show - but they just wanted to talk to him about his big storyline change, which saw Aaron come out as gay.
The soap star was only too thrilled to take on the part, and was hopeful Aaron could help those who were struggling with their sexuality and help people be more "open and accepting" of other people's preferences.
When asked by Frankie Bridge about his character coming out on Emmerdale, he said: "This new producer took over, he was the one who kind of made my career really. They asked me to come up for a meeting at the end of the day – I was nervous.
"It was worrying thinking they’re going to get rid of me and that’s why it’s [the meeting] at the end of the day."
He added: "I just sort of said, didn’t have to think about it, I went, 'Yeah, I’d love to be able to portray something that’s not really been done in Soap.' There’s obviously gay characters in Soap, but in terms of against all stereotypes of a gay man, and it made me think that would be so good. At the time, 13 years ago, it wasn’t as kind of open and accepted at that time as it is now."
Danny is glad his portrayal of Aaron has helped other people deal with their own sexuality.
He explained: "I think part of it helped change some perceptions of it really. I’ve had loads of fan letters and stuff that have come through at work that said, ‘You helped me come out’, ‘You helped me deal with my sexuality’ and stuff and you think, 'Wow.'"
His main aim playing Aaron had been trying to stop the stereotype surrounding sexuality.
Asked if he ever got 'stick' for playing a gay man and being straight himself, he said: "People are always saying it to me when they meet me, they’ll go, instantly if it was a bloke, 'How do you kiss them men?'
"That’s exactly what we’re trying to stop, the stereotype of how do you do that?"
Adam Woodyatt was full of praise for his fellow campmate as he added: "Danny, taking on that character at such a young age is brave and it can be quite daunting. It is challenging. Sadly, there’s still a lot of homophobia out there."
