When Nick wishes to buy a Japanese peace lily for Danny's birthday, Leslie asks him if it is for "someone special". He replies yes.
Insinuated by the Andys, and the protagonists. According to the trivia track, this is largely because the script once included a love interest named Victoria for Angel. After the character was cut, much of her dialogue was instead given to Danny, often without edits. For example, after getting drunk at the pub, Danny and Angel have a reallyHo Yay conversation about Angel's inability to "disconnect" with work (Danny is using lines meant for Victoria). As the conversation gets more and more homoerotic-sounding, Danny suggest he knows a way for Angel to disconnect, doing said suggestion in an extremely Ho Yay tone... only to reveal his DVD collection of action films.
"Well, this is me. Fancy a coffee?"
The scene where Shooter clips Nick in the chest. Danny gives a Big "NO!", fires in turn, and then goes to check on Nick. When he realizes the bullet is in his vest, Danny says with visible relief, "I thought you was a goner."
There was some (possibly tongue-in-cheek) Word of Gay—the writers and actors went and wrote a whole series of slashdrabbles. On Twitter. (In response to discovering the fans who were doing so.) Wright comments there that he and Simon "once wrote some Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman slash fiction. It was called HOT FUZZ." Wright also described the aforementioned scene with Danny inviting Nicholas up to his place for a coffee on the writers' commentary as a "first date," comparing it to Bridget Jones' Diary.
The outtakes on the DVD end with the two actors pretending to move in for a kiss during the Ho Yay bits. And some dry humping. In some of the outtakes, they don't bluff and actually kiss.
"Take out all the little people, you get to waltz off with the cuddly monkey", says Dr. Hatcher. Would that be the stuffed toy or Sgt. Butterman?
Simon Pegg stated in an early interview from 2007 that Hot Fuzz has a love story between Nick and Danny.
Simon: Angel has his ex-girlfriend and she says, ‘Until you find someone you care about more than your job, you won’t be able to switch off.’ And then he does, but it’s Danny.
In 2021, a Twitter user asked Edgar Wright if he'd ever do a gay romcom with Pegg and Frost. Wright responded by telling them to watch Hot Fuzz.
(In response to discovering the fans who were doing so.) Wright comments there that he and Simon "once wrote some Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman slash fiction. It was called HOT FUZZ." Wright also described the aforementioned scene with Danny inviting Nicholas up to his place for a coffee on the writers' commentary as a "first date," comparing it to Bridget Jones' Diary.