People are delighted that Smithers from The Simpsons is coming out as gay

It’s not exactly a secret to fans of the show, but now – after 27 years of hiding his true feelings – Simpsons character Waylon Smithers is set to officially come out as gay.

Inspired by the real life personal experiences of Rob LaZebnik, a writer for the show, the episode was made to show support for his son Johnny, 21, who recently came out.

The announcement about the upcoming episode has been well-received by fans who have followed Smithers’ journey from confused to confident for more than two decades.

In the new episode of the long-running show, Mr Burns’ long-time admirer will apparently be caught using Grindr, and LaZebnik told the New York Post:

“I am a Midwestern guy, so I don’t tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve, but I thought, ‘What better way to tell my son I love him than to write a cartoon about it? 

We didn’t really want to have that big moment of ‘I’m out,’ you know? Instead, just have it be a big embrace — like, everyone knows it anyway.”

Previous episodes like ‘Homer’s Phobia’ and ‘There’s Something About Marrying’ have explored the issue in the past

SMITHERS IS COMING OUT! 🌈#SmithersComingOut #ProudOfSmithers

— luke. (@LukusWilson) April 4, 2016

Since when was it a secret that Mr Smithers was gay??

— #SheMatters✨ (@CynthiaOToole) April 4, 2016

Smithers is GAY???

— Lalo Alcaraz (@laloalcaraz) April 5, 2016

https://twitter.com/pau10mb/status/712125514408787968

Spoiler alert: Smithers is gay and Burns finally knows. Wait for it.

— LISA SIMPSON (jami) 🔜 yer mom (@cricket710CO) March 20, 2016

smithers, your free pic.twitter.com/uV6TJwuw2r

— joseph online (@jnlevine) April 5, 2016

Any more spoilers and scoops we should know about? Let us know at hello@JOE.co.uk.