Gay twist for 'My Family' character?

My Family's Michael Harper is to come out as gay in the sitcom's next series, a report has claimed.

Michael - played by 23-year-old Gabriel Thomson - will reveal the truth about his sexuality to parents Ben (Robert Lindsay) and Susan (Zoe Wanamaker) when the show's tenth run begins later this year, according to the Daily Mail.

Sources say that the twist was thought up by a team of new writers who have been brought in to make the BBC programme 'more edgy and relevant'.

One insider said: "We were given a brief to turn the show into something a younger audience would relate to and watch. This is just one of the storylines we have come up with. It's handled very sensitively."

A spokesman for gay rights organisation Stonewall backed the rumoured plot, saying: "It's refreshing that My Family will be reflecting modern Britain in their next series."

News of the storyline is likely to surprise fans as Michael has been depicted as a ladies' man in recent years.