Colin Hughes is a main regular character featured in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso and a footballer who played Left Wing for AFC Richmond. He is seen with other team members and often participates in group activities such as karaoke and dancing in clubs. He hangs around with Isaac McAdoo, Sam Obisanya, Moe Bumbercatch, and Richard Montlaur most of the time. Before his time at Richmond, he used to play for Cardiff City F.C.
The Lackeys[]
Ted Lasso first noticed him when he yelled in a thick Welsh accent, calling another player 'Boyo'. Ted mistakes him to be from England, but Coach Beard and Nathan Shelley corrects him and tells him that Colin is from Wales. Ted, not understanding the United Kingdom, asks whether it's another country.
He and his close friend, Isaac were heavily under Jamie Tartt's sway in the locker room. For some time he and Isaac bullied Nathan at Jamie's request, but his influence on him seemed to wane after Ted and Roy Kent successfully exposed Jamie as a bully.
After Jamie left the club, Colin's behaviour seemed to improve, especially after Nate was promoted to the coaching team. This is partly due to Roy headbutting him hard enough to warrant a trip to the doctor.
The Capable Man[]
Colin is very attached to his green Lamborghini, but admits that he can't handle the car, and even Sam mentions that he's afraid to get a lift from him because he drives like a maniac. During the 'ghost cleansing', Colin throws his Lamborghini's key to the bin as a way of solidarity, which makes Coach Beard asks him how he's going to get home. According to actor Billy Harris via his Twitter, Isaac drives him back home after the ceremony.
During the Trick Plays meeting, Colin suggested "Beckham's Todger" as one of the elaborate set pieces. At a match against Manchester City F.C., their Captain Isaac, tells everyone to do the 'Lasso Special' in which he positioned himself as a defensive in the middle.
When Jamie returns to the club, Colin is one of the team members who calls out Jamie for his bullying behavior which then prompts everyone else to chime in. Jamie apologizes to everyone but it takes a while until every player is cool with him back in the club.
After Nate is promoted as a coach, their roles almost become swapped, and he berates Colin by making him the subject of multiple insults, telling him that "You don't inspire. You don't move people. You're there." which then makes him feel insecure. Sharon Fieldstone helps him gain his confidence back by using the mantra "I'm a strong and capable man".
During Christmas, Colin receives a knitted scarf with the colors of Wales' flag made by Moe Bumbercatch, which he appreciates a lot. He is known to post to his Instagram about how much he wants Welsh Independence from the United Kingdom, which Keeley Jones usually reminds him not to, especially when promoting products.
Colin seems to be prone to accidents and physical injury: during a shower he falls down after being hit by strong water pressure, he gets headbutted by Roy, and he chokes twice during a bench-press.
He is shown to have a sense of loyalty towards his team members, especially for Isaac and Ted. When an article about Ted by Trent Crimm regarding his panic attack is published, he defends his coach and swears for revenge against the anonymous source who leaked it.
In The Closet[]
Colin wakes up at Michael's house and it is revealed that he has a secret boyfriend. Although never mentioned whether they are having a steady relationship, it seems Michael and Colin are very intimate and solid. Colin is surprised that Michael knows about football, which Michael denies, correcting him by saying that he knows about Zava joining the club. Colin asks him to text him when Michael gets back from Dubai, implying that he's leaving for a while. They both kiss each other goodbye, and Colin tells him to have a safe flight, and Michael tells him to have a safe drive - knowing that his boyfriend is really bad at driving, which is proven right because when Colin drives away from his driveway, he hits a trash bin with his orange Noble.
The whole team is excited to have Zava joins Richmond, and they see the new lockers for him. Dani Rojas expresses his happiness of having him in the club, and the rest of the players mentions that they will go gay for Zava - which implore Colin to joke that he will take one for the team and have sex with the new player.
Michael texts Colin from Dubai and sends him a picture of himself, and it's apparent that Colin misses him especially after Coach Beard, Ted Lasso, and Roy Kent benches him after Zava changed the play formation. Michael teases him via text that Colin is thirsting after him.
Michael returns home and goes to see Colin at the opening of Sam Obisanya's restaurant Ola's, and is introduced as Colin's "friend/wingman." It is evident that they have agreed to keep their relationship secret as Michael plays along, telling a story about how bad Colin is at flirting with women to Thierry Zoreaux and Isaac McAdoo. After dinner, Michael and Colin are passionatley kissing a few blocks from the restaurant. They are in their own world, kissing each other, not knowing that Trent Crimm accidentally spots them together when he is walking home from the restaurant.
Unexpected Ally[]
Before the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., the coaches tells everyone to give all the ball to Zava and benches Colin. Zava scores a goal the second the match begins, and everyone feels that the club's luck is about to change. The new player scores goals every time they are up against their toughest opponents, and their winning streaks brings Richmond to the top 5 ranking of the season. Unfortunately, West Ham United F.C. has a strong defense especially when after they lost the half-time, the coaches showed them a video of Nate ripping the BELIEVE sign off the wall, which resulted in anger and anarchy as the players starts to play dirty and chaotic in the match.
During a match against Manchester City F.C., Zava is nowhere to be found, and Colin returns to his original position, which makes football commentators Arlo White and Chris Powell disappointed. Leslie Higgins announce to the players that Zava has left the club and everyone is devastated. Colin listens to Ted giving speech about "believe" and "shame" in life and how people shouldn't dwell on those things and ponders about his decision to keep his sexuality a secret.
Richmond visits Amsterdam for an Exhibition Match (Friendlies Match) against AFC Ajax, and Colin is very upset that his club suffer a loss against a club from Netherland. Ted tells everyone to have fun in Amsterdam for the whole night to lift their spirits. Their captain Isaac tells everyone to meet up in the lobby of their hotel so they can decide where to go and what to do. At the lobby of their hotel, the team can't decide where are they going to do. Jan Maas offers they go to a private party at Groningen which makes some of them object because it takes two hours to go the party. Thierry Zoreaux insists that they should see a live sex show. And that is a cue for Colin to excuse himself from the night activity, and tells his friends that he is not feeling well and rather get some rest.
While his teammates are arguing and having discussion, Colin slips away from the hotel and visits a gay bar called "Prik". At the bar, he asks the bartender named Bart whether he knows who he is, which Bart only replies that he can be anything he wants in the bar. But Trent suddenly appears behind him and it freaks him out, so he leaves in a hurry, but Trent calls him that he knew all along that Colin is gay.
Trent assures Colin that he means no harm and just want to be his friend and ally, as he is also a gay person. They both bonded overnight and tells each other about their struggles in life. Colin claims that he doesn't want to be a spokesperson for LBTGQ+ community; he just want to lead a normal life and when their team wins, he wants to be able to kiss his boyfriend just like other players who kissed their girlfriends. They both pours their hearts out and goes out dancing in a club, happily, because they can be themselves that night.
Coming Out[]
When there are many nude photos of celebrities are leaked on the internet, the team discusses whether they should delete their photos from their phones. Colin thinks that deleting photos makes no sense because it feels like deleting their memories, but many disagrees. Isaac insists that all of the team players delete all compromising pictures on their phones. While the rest of the team deletes photos in the locker room, Colin slips out to the hallway so people do not see his photos are of men. Isaac sees him leave and follows him, saying that he wasn’t playing and Colin has to delete his photos like everybody else. Believing that Colin is not following instructions, Isaac grabs his phone and sees what’s on Colin's screen. He gives him back the phone, saying nothing, then leaves, but Colin only stares at him, worried.
During a match against Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Isaac seems distracted and won't even look at Colin. He ignores and refuses to touch Colin's hand during a huddle and even misses a goal. A Richmond fan keeps yelling at him, hurling some insults and when he's saying a pejorative term for a gay person, and Isaac, as captain, loses it. He confronts the fan and ready to fight, but is stopped by security and Roy. Isaac gets a red card and gets kicked out from the match, and the fan also gets booted from the Nelson Road Stadium.
Richmond loses the first half, and when the players returns to the locker room, everyone is confused with Isaac's behavior. Ted asks what happened, and Isaac tells him that the fan said something ignorant, which confuses everyone after Sam tells them that the fan said the "F" word, but it's not "Fuck". Jamie says that they should just ignore people like that, but Isaac angrily says that they shouldn't because what if there's a gay person in the team? Isaac storms out from the locker room, and Moe Bumbercatch thinks aloud that maybe Isaac is gay, hence the anger. The coaches think they should support Isaac for being gay, but Colin confesses that it's not their former captain who is gay, but that he is.
He challenges everyone whether they are cool for finding out that he's gay, and to his surprise everyone seems okay about it. The players says that they don't care whether Colin is gay or not, but Ted corrects them that they do care about him; that Colin will never be alone again with this fact and they will support him no matter what. It's apparent that Colin is relieved that everyone accepted him and don't not care about him being gay, and Trent asks him whether it's a nice surprise to see everyone being supportive. Colin explains that in his ideal scenario, all of his other team members would also come out, but he was fine with being accepted in the way he was.
Colin manages to play the match beautifully and his performance is being praised by Arlo White as a reborn player, especially when Richmond wins the match. All of his teammates hug him in the field as they celebrates the winning, and it seems the burden has been lifted from his shoulders.
That night, Isaac visits Colin at his house, apologising and explaining that his anger came from a feeling that he was being lied to. He asks Colin why he didn't tell him about the secret, and that he thought his best friend didn't trust him. Colin says that it's not about Isaac, but more about himself - because even though he knew that Isaac would support him, he was afraid that there was a small, but real, chance that Isaac would reject him, and that scared the hell out of him. Especially knowing that Isaac can't keep a secret - after all, Colin had been keeping a secret for years, but after Isaac found out, the secret is out immediately.
Isaac apologizes and Colin forgives him. But when asks whether he would tell everyone about his sexual orientation, Colin doesn't care. The only thing he cares that the team knows, and that's enough for him. The two best friends make amends at each other and Colin asks him whether Isaac want to hangout. They both plays some video games and Colin tells him that he loves his best friend and knows that he will not answer back, but Isaac answers that even when he will not answer, he knows that he does love him. The two continues to play their video game in silence, finally at peace.
Later in the season, during the final regular league match, Richmond manage to scrape out a win against West Ham United. This win means that if Manchester City lose or draw, Richmond would win the premier league overall. In all the celebration, Michael (who had been watching in the crowd) rushes down to greet Colin on the pitch. After they embrace for a moment, Colin kisses him. Michael smiles and tells Colin that he is proud of him and then both men join the rest of the team in celebrations.
Sexuality[]
A popular fan theory suggested Colin is gay or bisexual. During earlier seasons in Do the Right-est Thing, Keeley spelt out Bantr for the players and Colin remarked that the spelling is similar to the gay dating app "Grindr." Creator Bill Lawrence liked several fan tweets speculating on Colin's sexuality based on the observation. This is confirmed in the Season 3 episode 4-5-1, where he is shown kissing his male partner, Michael.
Co-creator and Coach Beard actor Brendan Hunt, told RadioTimes.com that they decided before season two that they wanted a gay player on the team, although they initially considered bringing in a whole new character for it. They wanted the “revelation” of his sexuality to have more of an impact for people who rewatch and see how good the footballer was at hiding it.
“It’s still a taboo in football, but there are more active players who are coming out,” Hunt said. “There was Josh Cavallo in Australia last year, Jakub Jankto in Czech Republic this year, and Jake Daniels at Blackpool. It’s just a part of what’s happening in football. We may be a fake football club, but we’re trying to show a little bit of football reality here.”
From Arlo White's cheat sheet:[]
- Former Cardiff City (Relegated)
- Knows every word to every Drake song
- Once caddied for Craig Bellamy
Notes[]
- Jamie called Colin a jaundice worm for an article.
- Actor Billy Harris posts a lot of behind the scenes video and pictures with actor Kola Bokinni as they are friends in real life.
- Colin's car was a green Lamborghini in the first two seasons. In the third season, he drives an orange Noble.
- In season three, actor Billy Harris is promoted to the main cast and received a name credit in the intro.