'Walking Dead' creator settles debate over character Daryl Dixon's sexuality

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Norman Reedus' character Daryl's failure to find romance in the zombie apocalypse on The Walking Dead has sparked speculation about whether he is gay, straight or simply hasn't found the right companion yet, despite bonding with fellow survivors Beth and Carol.

Robert Kirkman -- the creator of the graphic novels on which the show is based and an executive producer on the series -- cleared up the mystery by declaring the quiet, crossbow-toting hero is heterosexual on Sunday's edition of the analysis program The Talking Dead.

The remark was in reply to the viewer question, "Is Daryl Dixon against having a booty call or is he just saving himself for someone special?"

"We play Daryl Dixon as being somewhat asexual on the show. I think he is a very introverted character and I think that is some of his appeal," Kirkman said of the fan favorite character, who was created for the TV series and doesn't appear in the books.

"I do have to clear something up, though. In a Walking Dead letters column in the old comic book that I do, there was a question that made me mention there was a possibility early on about making Daryl Dixon's character gay and it caused quite a hubub online. And I just wanted to make it clear that I was saying the possibility is there and I would have been fine with it, the network would have been fine with it. But we ultimately didn't do that. I can make it official -- Daryl Dixon is actually straight, but coming back in our next half of the season we're going to be introducing a very prominent gay character from the comics that will be debuting, so be on the lookout for that. That's going to be pretty cool."

The show had its mid-season finale on AMC Sunday night. It is set to return for the rest of Season 5 in February.