A few weeks ago, 'The Walking Dead' fans found themselves faced with the question of Daryl Dixon's sexuality, after vague quotes from series creator Robert Kirkman addressed potential for the crossbow-wielding warrior to be revealed as gay. We had a fairly hammy response to the idea, but now showrunner Scott Gimple stepped up to deliver his own thoughts on Daryl's ambiguous sexuality, promising a separate gay character to come in season 5.

While many outlets failed to even properly source the origin of Kirkman's quotes on the the matter, TVLine followed up with showrunner Scott Gimple for a bit of clarity on Daryl's potential love life, and whether or not we'd see the possibility addressed in season 5. Gimple wouldn't explicitly confirm either way, but seemed reasonably adamant that the character's sexual orientation wouldn't be used as any kind of surprise twist:

We know all sorts of things about the characters that we haven’t revealed, [but] 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.

We have been able to see him ever so slowly open up and show the other characters aspect by aspect as to what makes him tick. That’s been a very satisfying journey for all of us on the creative side to portray. [And] he’s still on that journey. This is a character who is going to continue to grow closer to the other characters, [and] let his guard down, and let them see just who he is, in every way.

Gimple at least confirmed that the issue of Daryl's sexuality wouldn't be addressed this season, in the process revealing that a new gay male character would appear on the AMC horror series before long. And while we're speculating based on Robert Kirkman's comics and the AMC drama's timeline, it seems plausible that said character could be Alexandria scout Aaron (or some remixed derivation thereof), who tailed Rick's group after their encounter with "The Hunters," before offering potential inclusion in the walled "Safe-Zone." Just a theory, mind you, but one with at least some set support (spoilers).

While we wait for ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5, we know that existing stars Christian Serratos (Rosita), Alanna Masterson (Tara) and Andrew J. West (Gareth) have all been upgraded to series regulars, while ‘The Wire‘ star Seth Gilliam joined in a role confirmed to be that of comic preacher Gabriel Stokes. The fifth season of AMC’s monster-drama will pick up shortly after season 4 finale “A,” eschewing the usual time jump to show Rick and his cohorts’ time at Terminus. Oh, and don’t forget about that Comic-Con 2014 trailer, or our beat-by-beat breakdown of its secrets!

Hopefully Gimple's words will put the current crop of speculation on Daryl's sexuality to rest, considering the vague, click-baiting nature of the initial articles, but what do you think? Do Gimple's words put anything about the character in perspective? Check out all you really need to know about 'The Walking Dead' in our recap below, and tell us what you want to see when season 5 premieres on October 12!

More From ScreenCrush