Hollyoaks star talks Ste and James wedding drama
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Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks will give fans something to smile about next week, as Ste and James finally tie the knot.
Unsurprisingly, the wedding is not without its drama, as Ste goes missing on the morning of his big day, meaning it's a race against time to find him. When he's finally reunited with James, Ste suffers a crisis of confidence over whether getting married is actually the right decision after all.
Here, Kieron Richardson – who plays Ste – shares more details of what's in store.
Ste and Sienna had such a good friendship. What do you think it is that makes them work?
"When you're in love, often it's opposites attract, and I think that can happen in friendships too. This is the case in my real-life friendships, we're not all the same and I think that's why we get on. Some of my friends are more confident than me so I encourage them to do things.
"I think Ste and Sienna are like that. Sienna is brave enough to do darker, scarier things than Ste. I think that's why they get on because he wants to be a bit like her, more strong willed, so it makes for a great friendship. The comedy element as well as the capers they get into."
Do you think Sienna will be able to forgive her BFF before the big day?
"All that Ste needs to do is flutter his eyelashes. I know that she can be quite stubborn but I think deep down she's got a real soft spot in her heart for Ste. They've been through so much together in such a short space of time so I think she'd find it easier to forgive him in the end. She'd be stupid not to as she's desperate to get to that wedding."
This isn't Ste's first time down the aisle and he and James are so different. What is it about their relationship that is different from the rest and makes them work so well together?
"They've got the drama which you have to have in a soap couple – if they all got along all the time it wouldn't be interesting for the audience to watch. You need to have arguments to show that you care that the other person is doing something that you don't agree with, and I think that happens quite a lot with Ste and James.
"Opposites attract also applies here with Ste and James they couldn't be more different with one dressed in a tracksuit and one in a suit, which will become quite apt on the actual wedding day."
Ste and James decide to have different stag dos and arrange each other's – what lies in store for James?
"James' stag do is wine, cheese and the finer things in life. I assume he's with all of his solicitor mates drinking some posh whiskey and listening to opera music dressed really smart, in contrast to Ste's which will be colourful, vibrant, Steps and S Club 7 camp."
We see that Ste goes missing the morning of the wedding, will Ste get to the wedding in time?
"It's a bit of a rush and there's a funny scene in a taxi as clothing is strewn all over – how we turn up to the wedding might not be how the audience expect."
Ste seems to get cold feet before the wedding, worrying it'll be him making all the changes and compromises. What can James do to reassure him?
"Ste gets cold feet at the last minute after all the conversations prior to the wedding in which he is willing to compromise on how they want the wedding to be and James is not wanting to budge.
"Ste has the last-minute panic thinking it's just going to be him making the changes, and he's worried that James isn't going to do anything to get to Ste's level so there is a conversation that happens just before the wedding.
"After Ste's been somewhere in Chester the night before, James manages to wear his heart on his sleeve and be open with his fiancé. He promises that it's not going to be how Ste thinks it is in his head and encourages him to stop catastrophising everything – just let love lead the way."
What impact do you think marriage will have on the couple?
"It will cement them together in each other's lives. At the minute I'm very passionate about the Lomax set and I want Ste and James to live there but currently they are living at the Nightingales, they have two families so hopefully soon they can integrate together.
"I don't know where we'll be this time next year because it is soapland and anything can happen, but I would like them to stay together. I wouldn't like it to be all hearts, sunshine and flowers though, I would like them to have some kind of push and pull drama in their lives just to keep it spicy and alive."
There's been a lot of back and forth with outfit ideas for the grooms. What can we expect from their wedding attire?
"This mood board has popped up in several episodes! So far we've had a little fashion show thanks to Scott, but on the actual wedding day we won't be getting married in the suits that we picked."
Looking back, which wedding was the most fun to film?
"My favourite wedding that I've filmed, even though it was a disaster, was the bus crash stunt years ago. It was Ste and Doug having a double wedding with Cindy and Rhys. There were a bus load of teenagers, with Bart on drugs and Sinead screaming at him.
"We had evil Maddie, the Final Destination moment, everything blew up! It was an epic stunt to film on location and all the cast were amazing. There were sensational performances especially from Claire Cooper who played Jacqui McQueen because Rhys was dying in her arms.
"There were so much soapy happenings going on and we also won a Soap Award for it so it's a memorable one."
What was it like filming in Chester?
"It was amazing to film in Chester because the show is set there and when we go there it's just like people who actually live in Chester walking past being like 'We love Hollyoaks!' We had a great reaction from the people standing by watching and it's such a beautiful city. It's amazing when we get to go there – it was just lovely-jubbly."
If you could choose the song for Ste and James' first dance, what do you think would be the perfect one would be?
"Ste would like Rihanna or Britney Spears but I don't think James would like that so it would have to be somewhere in between, maybe Mariah Carey and Westlife – 'Against all Odds'. I think that's fitting because people many years ago would never have thought those two characters would have got together let alone get married."
Fans went wild after you were recently spotted with Emmett [J Scanlan] on the wedding location shoot. How did that come about and can fans expect a Stendan reunion any time soon?
"Emmett actually lives in Chester and was randomly walking past. One of our makeup artists spotted him and was like: 'Your little Ste's getting married over there' so he came to say hello.
"There's a scene actually where Ste's tied to a lamppost and a passer-by takes pictures of him because he finds it funny, and we were thinking wouldn't it be amazing if we actually got Emmett to play the passer-by. It would work because he looks so different at the minute – he's in another show and he's got to shave his beard, so he looks a bit unrecognisable – really young actually.
"It was so weird on the day because there were fans watching and crew members so when we were stood together, I think people were expecting something to happen but we just had a little catch up. It was amazing to see him, obviously I'd love for a Stendan reunion to happen. I don't think that will be any time soon, but who knows what the future holds."
What three words would you use to sum up Ste and James' wedding?
"Camp, meaningful, sad – and I only say sad because something sad happens at the very end."
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4, with new episodes dropping each weekday morning. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, and at 7pm on E4.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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