‘Hollyoaks’ Kieron Richardson defends HIV storyline
By Josh Haggis
Hollyoaks
actor Kieron Richardson has defended the Channel 4 soap’s upcoming HIV storyline.
The actor revealed last month (November) that his character Ste Hay will be seen struggling with the social, medical and psychological consequences of contracting HIV after a night of unprotected sex with a stranger – Find out more here.
In a new interview, the 28-year-old responded to critics who have suggested the storyline will perpetuate the stereotype that HIV is only prevalent among gay men.
“Some people have had the opinion that we shouldn’t really be doing it because we don’t want to be stereotyped and it is just gay people that get HIV,” Richardson told Gaydio.
He continued: “My opinion on it is that we aren’t doing that and that probably is why it hasn’t been done before because people are shying away from it. We can’t get away from the fact that unfortunately it is predominately on the rise at the moment within the gay community.
“We do need to talk about it so people go and get tested. I think there’s over 26,000 people living in the UK that don’t actually know they have got HIV so if this storyline makes people go and get tested, then it stops the virus spreading.”
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