Hollyoaks' Kieron Richardson has given his thoughts on Ste Hay and James Nightingale's future, saying the lawyer needs to accept his step-children for the marriage to work.
Recent episodes have seen James struggle to accept his step-children Leah and Lucas following the recent blackmail threats, leaving the longevity of his and Ste's marriage in doubt.
Explaining the current tension between the couple, the Ste Hay actor explained that the issues come down to James' refusal to accept Ste's children as part of the marriage.
"The bottom line is James doesn't want the kids, Leah or Lucas, around as I think he feels like they're getting in the way of their relationship," Richardson said.
Related: Hollyoaks star Kieron Richardson nervous over Ste's big January story
"As the audience might have seen, James has not been very nice towards Lucas, and Lucas has been trying to hint to his dad about what’s been going on," he continued.
"However, Ste is obviously lovesick with James and can't really see it until his eyes get opened."
Richardson added that he believed the future of Ste and James' relationship was dependent on his acceptance of Leah and Lucas, saying: "I can't put my finger on why James doesn’t want Leah or Lucas around.
"I feel like the future would be great for them as a couple if James could just get past that. I can't really work out what Ste would need to do to make the relationship more solid because at the end of the day he's not going to make Leah or Lucas move out."
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The actor also touched on an upcoming LGBTQ+ solidarity episode, which comes coincides with Carter Shepherd and John Paul McQueen's ongoing conversion therapy storyline.
"I think that fans should tune in to the solidarity episode purely for Annie Wallace [who plays Sally St. Claire]. She's got this great speech near the end of the episode which she actually wrote herself," Richardson said.
"She was talking about growing up as a trans woman and there was quite an impassioned speech where we actually learned a lot as actors on the day."
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.
