Beauty and the Beast remake will feature an exclusively gay moment 'for first time in Disney history'

Director revealed moment will see a character exploring his sexuality

Disney's upcoming reboot of Beauty and the Beast will feature a gay storyline in what is believed to be a first for the film company, its director has said.

Bill Condon revealed the plot in an interview with Attitude magazine where he revealed that Belle's suitor Gaston, played by Luke Evans, has an admirer in the form of his manservant LeFou [Josh Gad].

"LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Condon said.

"He's confused about what he wants. "It's somebody who's just realising that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it.

"And that's what has its pay-off at the end, which I don't want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."

A recent trailer clip released for the film showed LeFou heaping lavish praise on Gaston who seems to be enjoying the attention.

The storyline will be a side-plot to the main story about Belle - played by Emma Watson - and her relationship with the Beast [Dan Stevens].

Watson recently revealed that she was originally offered the role of Cinderella in Kenneth Branagh's live action remake but turned it down before she knew she would be offered the role of Belle.

"When they offered me Belle, I just felt the character resonated with me so much more than Cinderella did," she explained.

"There's this kind of outsider quality that Belle had, and the fact she had this really empowering defiance of what was expected of her."

The live action remake of Beauty and the Beast is due for release in cinemas on 17 March.