Is Buck Gay on 9-1-1? Oliver Stark Reveals His Character’s Sexuality
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9-1-1 fans are one step closer to Buddie. After his kiss with with Tommy in Season 7, Episode 4, fans have had countless questions about Buck’s sexuality on 9-1-1 and what’s next for the character’s romantic-life (and whether it could include another firefighter viewers have been shipping him with for years.)
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Evan “Buck” Buckley, is a firefighter at the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fictional Station 118 in 9-1-1. The series, which premiered in 2018 and also includes spin-off 9-1-1: Lone Star, follows the personal and professional lives of first responders — including police officers, paramedics, and dispatchers — in Los Angeles, California.
Buck, who is also the brother of 9-1-1 operator and trained nurse Maddie Buckley, is one of five remaining original characters on 9-1-1, along with LAPD patrol sergeant Athena Grant-Nash, LAFD Station 118 captain Robert “Bobby” Nash, firefighter and paramedic Henrietta “Hen” Wilson, and firefighter and paramedic Howard “Chimney” Han.
Throughout his time on 9-1-1, Buck has been portrayed as somewhat of a womanizer after his relationships with characters like Abigail “Abby” Clark. That seemed to change in 9-1-1 Season 7, which introduced the character’s first queer storyline. Read on for what the showrunners have said about whether Buck is gay in 9-1-1 and what’s next for the character romance-wise.
Is Buck gay in 9-1-1?
Is Buck gay in 9-1-1? Evan “Buck” Buckley he had his first queer storyline in 9-1-1 Season 7, Episode 4, “Buck Bothered and Bewildered,” in which he kissed former Station 118 firefighter Tommy Kinard. Tommy is also the friend of Buck’s best friend and fellow Station 118 firefighter, Edmundo “Eddie” Diaz, who 9-1-1 fans have shipped with Buck since Eddie joined 9-1-1 in Season 2.
So is Buck gay in 9-1-1? The answer is no. 9-1-1 showrunner Tim Minear confirmed to TVLine in an interview after the episode that Buck is bisexual and labels himself as such. “That’s the way I have it in my head. We’ll see flashes of how he might look to label it in the next episode, but yeah, I think that would be the correct term,” he said when asked if Buck considered himself bisexual.
Oliver Stark responds to criticism over Buck’s sexuality on 9-1-1
Oliver Stark, who plays Buck, also confirmed that his character was bisexual in a post on his Instagram Story on April 6, 2024, in which he slammed viewers criticizing 9-1-1 for Buck’s queer storyline. “Humbled and overwhelmed by the positive reaction to Buck’s storyline. I’ve read so many of your messages and I couldn’t be prouder,” he wrote. “If you are one of the smaller group of people commenting on my posts about how this has ruined the show. I would like you to know that I truly don’t care. This is a show about love and inclusion. It’s featured queer relationships from the very beginning including a beautiful Black lesbian marriage played out by two of the best actresses I’ve ever watched.”
He continued, “If one other character finding a new facet to his sexuality and realising his bisexuality is your deal breaker – I fear you’ve missed the ntire point of the show. You are not required to announce your departure.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stark explained that he didn’t know about Buck and Tommy’s kiss until a couple episodes before it happened. “It kind of came together, I guess, while still shooting episodes 2 and 3. [9-1-1 co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear] called me and he said, ‘I want to pitch you something…’ and laid it out to me. And I said, ‘Yes, I love that. I think that’s fantastic,'” Stark said. “And we laughed about how, certainly from my point of view — and this is the big thing — I do think it’s been a long time coming.”
While Buck didn’t have his first queer storyline until Season 7, Stark confirmed that there were clues throughout the whole series. “I do feel like there have been moments in the show that have led up to this for a long time,” he said. “For a long, long time, in fact. I think it’s been seasons and seasons in the making, so it’s really nice to see it officially come to fruition. I think the crumbs have been there. Maybe on one hand in quite obvious ways, but on the other hand, in less obvious ways — of just searching, of trying to…. ”
He continued, “There was obviously something that wasn’t clicking in Buck’s personality and his openness with himself and his acceptance of himself. It felt to me like there was something beneath the surface, right? Because we’ve seen him latch onto these different personalities, or different relationships over the years, and that, to me, is a sign of not being quite okay with yourself. So I think that was a big driving force in it for me.”
He also referenced a scene in 9-1-1 Season 1 where he first suspected Buck could be queer. “I don’t think at the time, looking back, it was conscious, but there are certainly moments,” he said. “The first one that sticks out to me…. If I go back to season 1, there’s this scene: It’s the tapeworm emergency, and the way Buck is kind of connecting with this guy…. I think there have been hints that weren’t intentional, but I think do create pieces of this journey for me.”
He continued, “What’s kind of crazy is that this season I did decide ‘If there’s an opportunity, I think I want to start leaning more heavily into that.’ I hadn’t had that conversation with Tim though, so when Tim then brought this storyline to me, I was like, ‘Well, guess what: I totally think that’s the right direction and I’m all for it.'”
Stark also told Variety about whether there could be a spin-off between 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star, which queer married couple, T.K. and Carlos. “Honestly, I don’t really know how that will work. On a personal level, I know plenty of their cast, some better than others, I’m excited to watch them come back on and do amazingly well,” he said. “I haven’t watched every episode of the show, but I’ve watched a good amount and especially this year. In fact, Tim would send me specific episodes. For example, Chad Lowe directed Episode 4 of 9-1-1, and he’s done a number of Lone Star episodes so he would send me some of those episodes, just episodes that he was really proud of. So I’ve watched a lot more of it this year and I think it’s a really great show and I’m excited for them to come back. I don’t know in what capacity we could ever be involved in that but I wish them nothing but total success.”
Is Buck gay from 9-1-1 in real life?
Is Buck gay from 9-1-1 in real life? Stark hasn’t confirmed his sexuality, however, he has been dating his girlfriend, model and actress Hannah Gottesman, for years. In an interview with People in 2018, Stark revealed that he met Gottesman on Instagram and the two became official when he moved from London to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
“I lied to my parents and told them I had met her before,” he said. “Basically, I’d been stalking her for about an entire year, liking photos — totally creepy. And then eventually she followed me back. But I still didn’t want to message her because I was like, there’s no way for a guy to message a girl on social media without sounding creepy. Eventually, she sent me a message and said, ‘Are you going to like my photos or are you going to say hello?’”
He continued, “I came here for about three weeks and then never went home. We met at the airport and moved in together. There’s every chance that it wasn’t going to work, and we wouldn’t like each other in person, but we just passed our two-year anniversary, so things are good.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stark opened up about the “responsibility” of representing a queer character on TV. “I think there’s a responsibility to tell the story the right way,” he said. “And for me, it’s a balancing act between telling a queer love story but also just telling a love story, and not always needing to focus on the fact that it is a queer story. It’s about finding that balance between wanting to highlight it but also not wanting to differentiate it from what media in the past may have seen as “normal,” and just telling it as a story that is one of happiness and joy — and just focusing on the emotions and the human beings at the center of it. It’s been a really nice gift: the opportunity to delve into this storyline, to be involved in telling it. I feel very proud of the work and just to be a part of it.”
9-1-1 is available to stream on Hulu.
For more on 9-1-1, check out the cast’s children and families in real life in the gallery below.
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