Showing posts with label cerebral palsy. Show all posts

Jul 16, 2026

Zak Ford Williams: Better Bridgerton Batteries and the British Stonewall: all gay roles all the time. With a lot of c*cks.

**Link to the n*de photos**

Awhile ago I profiled Ruben Reuter, the "short guy with a d*ck" who starred in the Channel 4 Britcom Pushers. In 2023 he appeared in the short Mobility, about three high school students with different disabilities riding the same bus every day.

I decided to check out his co-stars -- maybe the others were gay, too -- and found the extremely attractive Zak Ford-Williams.

Zak was born in Ramsbottom, about 15 miles from Manchester, in 1999. Growing up, he was deeply involved in the theater, joining Summerseat Players and the Manchester Royal Exchange Young Players. He took his secondary school at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and university at the Manchester School of Theatre (B.A., 2020).

His first on-screen role was in a 2021 episode of Wolfe, with Babou Ceesay as a university professor/ murder investigator. The team finds evidence of a ritual killing in a "giant fatberg" in Manchester's sewers ( a fatberg is a giant blockage). Zak's character offers to guide them into the sewer, and then attacks.

Next Zak had a recurring role in Better (2023), about a corrupt police detective striving to "do better." Her son Owen (Zak), disabled after a bout of meningitis, starts a relationship with the Crime Lord's son Donal (Ceallach Spellman, n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

The short Battery (2023) is set during a lockdown that has turned London into a post-Apocalyptic nightmare. A boy with cerebral palsy (Zak), forbidden to leave the flat because "it's not safe," sneaks out and braves the mean streets to reunite with his boyfriend (Nadeen Islam, who performs stand-up as "the only brown deaf gay man in England") It was repeated in the anthology movie 4Love (2023).

Next came an episode of the long-running Midsommer Murders. He plays Ludo Trask, a teenager obsessed with a book supposedly containing clues to a treasure -- and its author, who ends up murdered. Spoiler alert: he didn't do it. No heterosexual interest mentioned.

Two episodes of the historical soap opera Bridgerton, as the snarky gossip-girl Lord Remington (dig the old-timey wheelchair). He hangs out with Penelope (left), but does not express any romantic interest in her.

And she is is busy courting Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton, n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) and Alfred Debling (Sam Phillips).

If you're keeping score, that's five roles, two canonically gay, one gay vague, and two queer coded through lack of expressed heterosexual interest.

More after the break.

Jack Caroll is trollied, eaten by lions, endures soap opera angst, does stand-up comedy, shows his backside and his d*ck

**Link to the n*de photos**

Mobility is a BAFTA Award-winning comedy short about three boys from Huddlesfield, Yorkshire, who get on each other's nerves as they ride the mobility bus to school.

Surly Dan (Ruben Reuter) insults everyone, mostly by references to the romantic interests of "your Mum."

Upbeat Sonny (Zak Ford-Williams) announces that "the only disability is a bad attitude," and chastises Dan: his behavior is not in keeping with the spirit of the Duke of Edinburgh award.

Entrepreneur Mike (Jack Carroll) claims to be the future Wolf of Wakefield; he's going to make a fortune on the stock

I researched Ruben and Zak, and discovered that they are both gay in real life. Coincidence, or a deliberate casting decision?

Time to check out the third, Jack Carroll who also co-wrote the script.

He has the longest resume of the three: Born in 1998 in Bradford, Yorkshire, started his career at age 12. Comedian Jason Manford saw a video of Jack performing at his parents' wedding anniversary, and invited him to perform at a show at St. George's Hall.

A film of his comedy bit aired on The One Show,leading to Britain's Got Talent, where he was runner-up, and 13 episodes of the sketch comedy show The Ministry of Curious Stuff (2012). Episodes of 4 O'Clock Club, Katy, Big School, and Ministry of Justice followed.

And the feature film Eaten by Lions (2018). After their Gran dies, half-brothers Pete and Omar (Jack, Antonio Aakeel) go off in search of Omar's estranged dad. They find him in the tawdry, seedy tourist trap of Blackpool (for Americans, think Atlantic City). Pete gets a girlfriend, and shows his backside. I reviewed it several years ago. It got a low grade for heteronormativity.

Next came 25 episodes of Trollied (2014-18), about the workers in a run-down supermarket (for Americans, a trolly is a shopping cart). Mark Addy, who stripped down in The Full Monty (1997), played head butcher Andy, and perennial n*de dude Joel Fry played nice guy Leighton.

Jack's character, 16-year old Harry, is the brightest of the group: he received 9 A-grades in his GCSEs (tests taken during Year 11 of secondary school). He's heterosexual.

In the short Newbie (2023), a new teacher is worried that students won't accept him because of his disability. Weird-- the guy played a high school student that same year. But Cole Sprouse was 30 when he finished playing high schooler Jughead on Riverdale.

Jack's biggest role to date is Bobby Crawford in 69 episodes of the soap Coronation Street (2023-25).

In 2023, the teenage Bobby argues with his mum's boyfriend, and gets kicked out. He looks up his birth dad, Rob Donovan (Marc Bayliss), who is in prison, and gets a referral to live with his Aunt Carla on....Coronation Street.

Ulp...maybe a soap opera community is not the best home. Aunt Carla has a life-threatening illness, then disowns Bobby due to his friendship with his birth dad. He is kidnapped, becomes a hostage, is accused of murder....

His crush Lauren disappears, presumably murdered; then she reappears, is accused of murder, is blackmailed. Am I getting this right? It seems rather repetitive. Finally Bobby has had enough; he runs away to Majorca to work on a fishing boat with a male friend.

Jack explains that he had to leave the show to prepare for a national tour, but maybe he was getting tired of the angst. He's primarily a comedian, after all.

He has performed on Britain's Got Talent, Britain's Got More Talent, Loose Ladies, Pointless Celebrities, Sunday Brunch, This Morning, The Stand Up Sketch Show, and Would I Lie to You?, as well as many live venues. In 2026 his "Fall Guy" tours Scotland, beginning in Edinburgh.

More after the break

Top 16 Disabled and Visually Different Men

I am a strong supporter of the representation of disabled persons in mass media, and dedicated to presenting the aesthetic beauty of visually different faces and physiques. So I've compiled quite a collection of profiles of disabled and visually different guys. Some are gay, some are big down there, but all are beautiful. Here are my 16 favorites.

1. Knox Gibson: Australian swimmer, model, "Hunger Games" baddie, disability advocate. With some n*de co-stars and random twinks