John Paul McQueen
Hollyoaks' John Paul McQueen will fall victim to a rape attack in the soap.
The classroom teacher - played by James Sutton - will be savagely attacked by student Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice) following months of homophobic abuse by the secondary school pupil and his pal Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham) in a gripping new storyline that will air at the beginning of next year.
The scenes will not be shown due to the Channel 4 soap's pre-watershed timeslot, but viewers will be able to follow the increasing tensions as John Paul struggles to deal with the incident.
James has been working with charities Stonewall and Survivors Manchester in order to prepare for the sensitive nature of the storyline.
He told SoapSquawk: "I visited Survivors Manchester with a view on how to handle the upcoming storyline with the sensitivity it demands. I was very moved by the bravery of the survivors I met.
"It is not just one event - it will follow the consequences of what happens to the character after going through an extremely traumatic attack and how it changes him as a person. 'Hollyoaks' has a history of examining important issues and I am really looking forward to telling the story."
The plot has reportedly been in production for over a year due to the extensive research needed to portray the issue, and bosses hope the touching scenes will help to shed light on the brutality of male rape.
'Hollyoaks' previously tackled the issue of male rape in 2000 as Gary Lucy's character Luke Morgan was sexually attacked in a late-night episode.
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