Yahoo News Hollyoaks stars praise Kieron Richardson for Ste Hay's story
Hollyoaks has never been a soap to shy away from difficult and controversial plots and its current far-right radicalisation story is no different.
In recent months viewers have seen long-standing character Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) make friends with a group of racist extremists, who have been grooming him into becoming part of their gang.
With Ste's actions about to have very serious consequences for the Maalik family, Hollyoaks stars Rishi Nair, who plays Sami Maalik, and Kirsty-Leigh Porter, who plays Ste's half-sister Leela Lomax, have spoken about the hard-hitting story on Sunday Brunch.
The actors revealed that they think the grooming aspect of the storyline is particularly important, as it demonstrates just how somebody like Ste could be indoctrinated into a racist gang.
"You have to mention the grooming because this is what we tried to get across," Kirsty-Leigh said. "Ste’s not a born racist and this is what happens nowadays a lot more than we think because we don’t see it. You become groomed to think like these people."
Rishi added that the soap's decision to create such a big change in Ste's character was important, because it helps viewers to see how the radicalisation process can happen.
"It’s clever that they’ve used Ste as well because he’s such a likeable character," he said. "So people can relate to him and see how he’s slowly been groomed. If they brought a character in who was completely new, people look at him and think 'Oh I can’t relate to him, I don’t know about him.' It’s really clever how they’ve used a much-loved character."
Unfortunately for Kieron Richardson, his character's recent unpleasant actions have led some viewers to treat him differently - but his co-stars have nothing but praise for him.
"I think with a soap people are so synonymous with a character because they see us five days a week," said Rishi. "It’s hard for some people to realise that it’s different. The abuse (Kieron’s) been getting online…"
Kirsty-Leigh added: "He’s doing a good job. He has to go to them dark places to get people to sit up and think 'Oh my god'.
"You’ve got to take that positive from what he’s doing because he’s raising awareness and getting people to think about what’s going on around them."
The extremism storyline is set to escalate this week, as Ste is furious to learn that his close friend Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis) is engaged to Sami and Stuart Sumner (Chris Simmons) sets a sinister plan in motion.
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first look screenings at 7pm on E4.
Read more news, spoilers and gossip on our Hollyoaks homepage
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