“Downton Abbey” star Rob James-Collier on last night’s episode and why “ripped” LA stresses him out

Did you see last night’s episode of Downton Abbey?

It was a doozy!

the scandal that ensued when the gay footman Thomas (Rob James-Collier) kissed fellow footman Jimmy (Ed Speleers).

Thomas enters Jimmy’s room while he’s asleep and kisses him thinking his feelings will be returned.

They are not.

‘Thomas becomes besotted,’ James-Collier tells Vulture.com. ‘Let’s face it, he borderline stalks Jimmy. He turns into an Edwardian sex pest. It’s pretty bad.’

Jimmy reports him to the bosses and it appears bad boy Thomas is finally going to have to leave Downton – and without a reference. But unexpected allies help him avoid dismissal.

The episode, as well as the recent one in which a family member dies, have allowed audiences to see some of Thomas’ softer side.

‘After he kisses Jimmy, he’s just completely distraught and destroyed and vulnerable, and you feel sorry for him,’ James-Collier says. ‘I’ve had people come up to me in the street and go, ‘Oh my God, Thomas made me cry last night, and I hate you for making him make me cry because I love to hate him.’ I’m messing up people’s lives.’

My favorite part of the Vulture interview is when the British James-Collier talks about visits to LA: “Beverly Hills is too intimidating. Everyone’s got lovely teeth, so you don’t want to smile. Everyone’s ripped, so you start working out at 4 in the morning and eating egg white omelets. I didn’t even know what that was and I’ve had three. My buns are killing.”