Kieron Richardson thinks it is "right" \'Hollyoaks\' viewers are finding his latest storyline "hard to watch".
The 33-year-old actor\'s alter ego Ste Hay has fallen under the spell of a far right extremist group in recent months and though fans have turned on his character, he thinks the plot would have been "pointless" if it didn\'t spark such a major reaction.
He said: "The audience are finding it hard to watch and rightly so, it\'s opening their eyes about something that is actually happening. If there wasn\'t that kind of a reaction it would be pointless as we are trying to highlight a big issue.
"I understand why people are hating Ste, I\'m used to it and it means we\'re doing a good job of portraying it."
Ste\'s sisters, Leela (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) and Peri Lomax (Ruby O\'Donnell) and his best friend Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) have already turned their backs on the chef because of his new outlook on life, and Kieron revealed his alter ego\'s ex-husband, Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool) will be the next person to "come into play" in the plot.
But Ste\'s new friends will see Harry as a "threat" and will do all they can to keep him at a distance.
Kieron told RadioTimes.com: "Harry is going to come into play. Ste and Harry have not seen each other in a while and have a lot of catching up to do, and Harry has to work out whether he likes the new Ste.
"Jonny, Stuart and the far right group see Harry as a threat, a link to the \'old Ste\' in the way Tony and Leela were, so they will want to put some distance between them. Then another new character is thrown in who I\'ve been doing some scenes with recently.
"I don\'t want to give too much away but he might have something to do with Harry and also the brotherhood, and them wanting to keep Ste and Harry apart..."
