Casualty to air 'heartbreak' football grooming plot

'Casualty' is to air a football grooming storyline, but Nigel Harman's character will step in to help.

The former 'EastEnders' actor recently joined the cast of the BBC medical drama as clinical lead Max Cristie, and the new character will take action on Saturday's (18.02.23) episode when he discovers football coach Joe Hutchin (Ian Weichardt) has been taking advantage of a 16-year-old player.

A show insider told the Daily Star newspaper's Hot TV column: "This storyline is heart-breaking. It's about a man abusing his power to take advantage of a vulnerable 16-year-old girl."

'Casualty' bosses are hoping to "raise awareness" about grooming with the hard-hitting plot.

The insider said: "Casualty's producers are always keen to tackle topical issues, even if it's going to be a tough watch for viewers.

"They want to raise awareness about grooming and how it can happen."

It comes after Channel 4 soap 'Hollyoaks' aired a heart-breaking football grooming plot in 2019.

Adam Woodward was praised for his performance as Brody Hudson in the storyline, which saw him testify in court against football coach Buster Smith (Nathan Sussex) for having groomed him when he was a child.

The star admitted working closely with charity Survivors Manchester on the plot helped him “broaden [his] understanding” of the trauma suffered by abuse survivors.

He said: "Each role and story line you tackle helps develop you as a performer.

"This story line helped me understand the trauma suffered by survivors, it really helped broaden my understanding."

Adam previously revealed he sat down with a psychologist for five hours to research the abuse storyline.

He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "We were working with Survivors Manchester and the head of that is a psychologist and I sat down with him for five hours.

"The pair of us sat down and we really delved into the details of the psyche of both a victim and their abuser and that really helped me massively."