Yahoo News Exclusive: Hollyoaks' John Paul to discover truth about Carter in special episode
Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks star James Sutton has revealed plans for a special episode, which sees his character John Paul McQueen discover the disturbing truth about Carter Shepherd.
The Channel 4 soap will be exploring solidarity and the LGBTQ+ community as John Paul and Carter's ongoing plot reaches a significant peak.
John Paul's issue-based story will be juxtaposed alongside the joy of other LGBTQ+ characters in the village, who come together in solidarity as their individual stories collide.
Ste Hay, James Nightingale, Sally St Claire, Peri Lomax and Nadira Valli will be among the other characters featuring in the episode.
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John Paul's scenes see him make a concerning discovery, as he realises that Carter's true intentions have been to practise so-called 'conversion therapy' on him.
The fan favourite confronts Carter, challenging his offensive beliefs about homosexuality.
Speaking about the upcoming episode for the first time, James explained: "It is a big tipping point in the storyline – it's a big story beat.
"Up until now, we haven't really seen much of Carter's backstory and his history. We don't really know much about his past and the reason why he is the way he is. This episode delves very deeply into the reasons behind Carter's personality and the reasons behind him conducting conversion therapy on John Paul.
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"From John Paul's side, he's trying to piece everything together in the moment because he realises at the end of the previous episode that it is indeed conversion therapy.
"It's somebody trying to figure everything out and somebody trying to think on their feet and cover their tracks and not let the façade slip. The episode culminates in quite a physical scene."
Discussing the importance of covering the issue, James continued: "Off the back of our current Government decision not to ban conversion therapy and to allow that abhorrent practise to continue, it's topical in that sense.
"It still goes on and as long as that continues, storylines like this have a place. It's something that we take very seriously and we do feel a sense of responsibility to the truth of it and to the people that are going through it or have been through it.
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"Since I've started doing my research I had no idea quite how big it is and how often it takes place, it's shocking. If we can just shine a little bit of light, make people even more aware, they might turn on E4 or their children might be watching and they might think, 'Oh my goodness, I can't believe this still takes place' and it gets that conversation going – that's really important."
James also spoke about his experiences so far working with former Holby City star David Ames, who's playing the role of Carter.
He said: "We've got a good working relationship and we have a good time together. I think we've got quite a good chemistry and it helps because we both take our work really seriously and we do a lot of talking and a lot of rehearsing.
"We sometimes move lines around and swap things out occasionally and have conversations with script editors as we want to make it as good as it can be. I think we trust each other, which is a really good place for any two actors to be if you're dealing with material of such a serious nature.
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"John Paul and Carter have a heated tempestuous relationship going forward. John Paul might be getting his foot in the door at school, whilst Carter is still trying to portray himself as an upstanding man, these are the paths we explore in the coming weeks."
James also discussed the importance of showing unity between the other LGBTQ+ characters in the village, in the scenes which air alongside John Paul and Carter's storyline.
He said: "We have many wonderful characters on the show who have wonderful relationships, explore their sexuality, hang trans flags – I love that side of it. I went to Pride this year in Liverpool and I was blown away by the colour and the excitement and the pride, all of it.
"I think to have that contrast is really important, otherwise you've got a really gloomy episode, so it's nice that we have some of our younger LGBTQ+ characters on the show falling in love and being proud. I think it's a really positive thing."
The episode will air on Friday, November 10 on Channel 4 streaming and Monday, November 13 on E4.
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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