Alan Cumming Calls On Fans To Help Make Charity Campaign Tip Toe's 'Lasting Legacy'

Alan Cumming has thrown his support behind a new charity campaign inspired by his character in the Russell T Davies drama Tip Toe.

In the Channel 4 series, the Emmy winner plays Leo Struthers, who runs the fictitious queer venue Spit & Polish on Manchester’s iconic Canal Street.

Since the show began airing, the HIV charity The Terrence Higgins Trust has begun selling a t-shirt inspired by Spit & Polish, which Alan was seen wearing in a video posted on Instagram over the weekend.

“If you’ve watched Tip Toe, you’ll know that I play Leo Struthers, who has been living with HIV since 1994,” Alan told his followers. 

“As he says in the show, back when Leo was diagnosed, it was a death sentence, but since then, thankfully, successful treatments have been found. Now, people like Leo just take one pill a day, which keeps their HIV in check and means they cannot pass HIV onto anyone else.”

He explained that, in Tip Toe, Spit & Polish is “a sanctuary where everyone feels safe, celebrated and free”.

“Now, you can buy your own Spit & Polish t-shirt to support people like Leo, living with HIV,” he continued. “Because, while treatments have improved beyond our wildest dreams, the stigma around HIV still remains, with too many people still met with judgement, ignorance and isolation. And we see that, of course, in Tip Toe.

“So please, please do something positive today, and order your Spit & Polish t-shirt from the Terrence Higgins Trust website. All the money raised is being split between HIV charities The Terrence Higgins Trust and the George House Trust.”

He added: “By wearing your t-shirt, you’re helping to build a lasting legacy for Tip Toe and making sure that no one faces HIV alone. Thank you and wear your Spit & Polish t-shirt with pride.”

Earlier this month, Russell explained that the depiction of Leo’s HIV status is a part of Tip Toe which he feels especially proud of, as it’s the “one thing” he “could never show” in his hit 2021 Channel 4 drama, It’s A Sin. 

He explained: “[The story of It’s A Sin] ended in 1991, which is before the medications, before there was any treatment, before people started surviving properly.

“So [in Tip Toe], I’ve got the chance to show off a man living for 30+ years with HIV. He takes one pill a day, he’s completely fine, it’s undetectable, it’s untransmittable in him. And that’s a nice pay-off – that I never got to do [in It’s A Sin].”

He added separately that this “feels like the natural legacy of It’s A Sin”, claiming (via Scene magazine): “There wasn’t the time in that show to tell the long‑term story – that medications were found which saved so many lives – so this feels like a right and proper continuation.”

A similar t-shirt inspired by It’s A Sin previously raised £20,000 for the Terrence Higgins Trust in just 24 hours.