Before Season 5 of The Walking Dead debuted last month, rumors started to surface in September that the popular character Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus, is gay. Daryl's sexual orientation was never confirmed nor denied throughout the first half of Season 5, which wrapped up last night with "Coda", but during last night's episode of the after-show Talking Dead, comic book creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman confirmed once and for all that Daryl Dixon is straight. Take a look at his statement from Talking Dead last night.

"In the letter column of the comic book that I do, I mentioned that there was a possibility early on about making Daryl Dixon's character gay. I just wanted to clarify that the possibility is there and that 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 straight."

In an August interview with TV Line, Robert Kirkman wouldn't say one way or another whether Daryl was gay or straight. It isn't known why he decided to "make it official" now, with the second half of the season still yet to air. Perhaps we'll be seeing new romantic possibilities for Daryl in the last eight episodes of Season 5, and Robert Kirkman wanted to clear the air long before the show returns. Here's what he had to say back in August.

"We're not holding back information on Daryl's sexuality as any sort of big reveal. The fact that there's still a question as to what Daryl's orientation is in Season 5 absolutely speaks to Daryl's character; he is a very guarded, very closed-off individual in a lot of ways."

During his appearance on Talking Dead, Robert Kirkman also teased that they will be bringing in a "prominent" gay character from his comic books into the second half of Season 5. TV Line speculates that it may be Aaron, an Alexandria Safe-Zone resident that becomes a strong ally to Rick (Andrew Lincoln). The character's identity has not been confirmed yet, and it isn't clear when exactly he will show up. The show returns for the second half of Season 5 on Sunday, February 8 on AMC.