The long suffering assistant to mean Mr. Burns will reveal he's gay.

The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean tells TV Line, "We deal with that in two episodes. We actually do a lot with Smithers this year; he gets fed up with Burns not appreciating him and considers his options."

Harry Shearer, who previously confirmed his plans to leave the cartoon series after 26 seasons, has returned to continue as the voice of Smithers.

He won't be the first Simpson's character to 'come out' - Marge Simpson's sister Patty came out as a lesbian in 2004, while Duffman was also outed as gay in 2008.