Ste realises what he’s done
As Stuart and Jonny wreak devastation on the village, star Kieron Richardson says Ste’s eyes are about to be opened…
Every year I say to
Inside Soap, ‘This is Ste’s lowest ebb!’ – but I don’t think he could get any lower than he is now,” exclaims Kieron Richardson, as he talks to us about what will be a huge week for his alter ego Ste. “At the moment I’m playing someone I don’t particularly like for 12 hours a day. So I’m looking forward to getting back to the old Ste!”
Up until now, Ste’s refused to believe that what Jonny and Stuart are doing is wrong, and he’s alienated himself from his loved ones with his extreme views and actions. But as Kieron explains, what happens this week will finally alert Ste to the reality of what’s been going on…
The week kicks off with Ste giving a speech at Stuart’s ‘family day’. How does that go?
Ste’s quite nervous, as he’s never done any public speaking before. His aim is to feel worthy, and Jonny and Stuart are giving him that. He gets real empowerment from being on stage – people are applauding him, and everyone wants to come up and shake his hand. Ste finally feels accepted.
But then he finds out that Sinead and Sami are engaged…
Yeah, Ste’s all pumped up from his big speech, and when he meets Sinead they have a bit of a heart-to-heart, just like the old days. But she drops the bombshell that she’s marrying Sami, and Ste’s back to screaming and shouting. He’s worried he’ll lose his daughter Hannah, and he feels Sinead should have told him before now.
Ste agrees to help Stuart with his plan (see p16). Does he realise the full extent of it?
They show him some blueprints of a community centre and say, “We need to get our message out to a wider audience”. It comes after Sinead tells him about the engagement, so Ste’s like, “Yeah, let’s show them who I am!” Only later does he realise people’s lives could be in danger – but he’s in too deep.
We can’t say what happens, but how does Ste react in the aftermath?
It’s just Ste standing in devastation. Everything around him is in pieces and he’s thinking, ‘I’m part of this. Why didn’t I realise?’ People are injured, so he has that weighing heavily on him. He’s lost everything.
How do you think the viewers will react to these episodes?
I think people have been screaming at their tellies for Ste to wake up to what’s going on – so I’m hoping that once viewers see the remorse Ste feels about what’s happened, they’ll be like, “Hallelujah!”
What was it like for you to film these episodes?
It’s quite difficult to be in an emotional state for that amount of time, and every single scene is high stakes. I was shaking and crying for hours on end, every day. This is the most intense week of episodes I’ve been involved with.
Ste’s eyes may finally be opened, but will it be easy for him to escape from Stuart and Jonny’s gang?
From the research we’ve done, it’s not that easy to get out of – you can’t just walk away from it. We’re trying to make this story as true to life as possible, and it takes time. Ste has to seek forgiveness from the community – but whether he can earn that forgiveness is another matter…