Michel Gerard (Yanic Truesdale)

RORY: Come on, Michel. I’ll tell all the ladies what a stud you are.
MICHEL: Hm. I believe that memo has already been sent.

Throughout the original series of the show, viewers speculated on the sexuality of the ever-snarky Michel Gerard, the concierge at the Independence Inn. From Michel’s own vague statements, he could either be interpreted as a camp heterosexual man, or a closeted homosexual man (or one who just didn’t want to discuss his private life – Michel did come across as someone who valued his privacy).

Amy Sherman-Palladino originally intended Michel to be heterosexual, as this comment from him showed. He was meant to be an example of a heterosexual man who has camp mannerisms and stereotypically “gay” interests. At some point she changed her mind, and in the Netflix revival, Michel is confirmed as not only gay, but married to a man.

In fact it was Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) who Amy had planned to be a gay character, but the television executives would not countenance the idea.

In real life, when Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino stayed at the Mayflower, the inspiration for the Independence Inn, the concierge was a French woman.