Hollyoaks actor Kieron Richardson has hinted his character Ste Hay will face a new battle, amid a huge new storyline on the soap.
The actor spoke exclusively to Mirror online as he promoted the Channel 4 soap's new podcast, Don't Filter Feelings.
Each episode features a panel of real-life influencers, celebrity guests and Hollyoaks cast members, discussing different topics that celebrate individuality and the challenge against equality.
Encouraging viewers to give it a listen, Kieron said: "I think the podcast is a great idea for soaps to do because soaps are windows for people to look into, and connect with stories they can maybe relate to that happen in real life."
He added: "I think it's nice that most of the topics we talk about, us as actors can put truth to the storylines we’ve been doing.
"I've been talking about coming out, there's one coming up about surrogacy which are all stories we are doing on Hollyoaks.
"So it's great we can show the audience that we don’t just do storylines for ratings - it's storylines that have meaning and can affect real people."
On his character's own battle with mental health, he confessed it would be good for Ste to open up himself.
He's currently at the centre of a huge storyline having been groomed and manipulated by a far right group - in scenes later this month the plot will take a huge new turn, as Ste finally realises what's been going on.
Kieron said: "I think Ste has definitely been filtering his feelings, his true feelings, and yeah I think the moment he opens up and actually decides to talk to somebody, he’ll be able to get help."
He added: "Unfortunately he can’t do that himself, Ste was supposed to save himself but he does need help from [the charity] Prevent so that's gonna happen, which will open up doors for himself."
Kieron continued: "I think Ste is naturally gonna struggle with [his mental health]. I think he has struggled with it several times in his past, when accepting he has HIV, accepting he's an addict and how to deal with that, how to deal with grief as well which can massively affect mental health and is one reason he got himself into the situation he's in at the moment.
"I dunno what the future holds for the character but I presume this is gonna have some kind of affect on his mental state in the future."
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6:30pm on Channel 4, with the next episode at 7pm on E4.
