Yahoo News Exclusive: Hollyoaks star Aedan Duckworth opens up over Ollie Morgan's drugs storyline
Hollyoaks star Aedan Duckworth has told Digital Spy that it will be "devastating" to see Ollie Morgan go down a darker path this year.
The Channel 4 soap's recent flashforward episode showed Ollie at rock bottom, crying while slumped in a toilet cubicle with a bag of drugs.
Ollie's emotional scenes are expected to tie in with Hollyoaks' County Lines drug dealing storyline, which will be running over the next year.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy about Ollie's worrying new direction, Aedan explained: "I was always hoping that Ollie would start his football again and maybe begin to have a more positive outlook on his life. We've skipped ahead and shown that he's not exactly done that – he's quite far away from that!
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"Ollie has done what quite a few people do when they go through a hard time. He's turned to drugs, which is devastating, to say the least. It's upsetting to see, because he's such a nice lad and we know he's been through so much already.
"It's going to be a good storyline and we're going to tell it to the best of our ability. Hopefully the year after this one will be when Ollie sorts himself out!"
On Hollyoaks exploring the topical issue of County Lines drug operations, Aedan continued: "It's brilliant. Like most things, we're the first people to explore it, and it's needed. Before we started discussing it and doing the research, I didn't know much about it. That's a brilliant incentive to start telling the story and raise that awareness.
"It's happening, it's relevant and some people don't even realise it. It could be your sister or your brother involved. People come into school selling drugs, so it could be right under your nose.
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"We should be telling the story for the parents, to make people aware. Like with the Buster story, it's got a deeper meaning behind it, to help out others."
Hollyoaks may already be setting the stage for Ollie's troubled path in this week's episodes. Viewers have just seen the teen's girlfriend Brooke Hathaway (Talia Grant) give birth to their baby boy, but Ollie is upset as she is still adamant that she wants to put the newborn up for adoption.
Ollie has also learned that his father Luke (Gary Lucy) has a terminal illness.
Aedan told us: "Talia was absolutely amazing in Brooke's labour scenes. She blew me away. It was terrifying, I'm not going to lie!
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"I didn't know what to expect from a birth scene and when it was happening in front of me, it was a bit intense! That was only the fake version, so I can't imagine what it'd be like in real life! But I enjoyed it, as they were big and important scenes.
"In all honesty, I do not know how Ollie is going to cope with what's coming up. I couldn't put myself in his shoes for one moment. He's got so much to deal with that it's ridiculous!
"It's devastating for such a young lad, especially knowing that Luke has got a terminal illness. We know how much he loves his dad. Hollyoaks always picks its timing with stuff like this and they've put a lot on Ollie's plate, the poor lad!"
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first look screenings at 7pm on E4.
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