Ste Hay

Ste Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes. The following series producer Bryan Kirkwood decided to bring the character back on a permanent basis. As of 2010, Richardson has revealed that he is committed to staying in the serial. In April 2017, Richardson began taking small breaks from the show due to paternity leave, and made a full-time return on 18 December 2017. In October 2019 it was confirmed that Richardson will take a break from the show departing on 20 November 2019. He returned on 3 November 2020.

Biography
Ste first appears as a friend of Wayne Tunnicliffe (Joe Marsden). Ste eventually begins a relationship with Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies) and pressures her to have sex with him. Ste begins a feud with Josh Ashworth (Sonny Flood) and his cousin Fletch after they both defend Amy, who does not want to have sex. Ste and Wayne push Josh and Fletch into rebelling, which they go along with in order to impress them. Amy becomes pregnant by a stranger, but does not tell Ste. Afterwards, Ste confides in Amy about the abuse he had to deal with from his stepfather. Ste takes Fletch, Amy, Josh and Michaela McQueen (Hollie-Jay Bowes) joyriding and causes a car accident, after which he flees. Following a confession to the police from Fletch, Ste is sent to a young offender's institute.

Months later, Ste returns and seeks Amy's help. After convincing her he has changed, Amy gives Ste a second chance. Amy's father Mike attacks Ste, but is told by Amy that Ste is her daughter Leah's father. Ste and Amy become a couple again and move into a flat of their own. Mike contacts Ste's stepfather Terry, who arrives and beats up Ste. Amy then throws Mike out. To help with their money worries, Ste steals Warren Fox's (Jamie Lomas) credit card. With this, he buys expensive belongings for the flat. When Warren finds out, he takes the belongings and threatens Ste, who later breaks into Warren's business, Evissa and sets a fire, which almost kills Warren's fiancée Louise Summers (Roxanne McKee). After this, Warren beats up Ste. Ste then turns to dealing drugs for money with his friend Nige Foster (Sam Townsend) and influences Fletch to begin smoking marijuana. Amy lets Ste's mother Pauline see Leah, causing an angry Ste to end up hitting Amy. However, they reconcile. After Ste fails to find a job, Ste steals Carmel McQueen's (Gemma Merna) handbag, but is stopped. To defend himself, Ste lies that Leah has been diagnosed with leukaemia. Amy is angry, but also lies after they receive money. Ste and Amy's relationship turns violent, with his lashing out on several occasions. The lie about Leah's health is revealed and Amy has no other option but to stay with Ste. Amy discovers she is pregnant, so Ste agrees that he will change. Despite his promise, Ste steals a karaoke machine, which causes Amy to walk out and tell Mike of her abuse, after which he beats Ste up. A drunken Ste climbs onto scaffolding and threatens to commit suicide. Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks) tries to talk him down as Amy, Sarah Barnes (Loui Batley) and Mike leave, believing Ste is attention-seeking. As they turn away, Ste falls and breaks his leg. After this, Ste and Justin Burton (Chris Fountain) become friends and move in together. For the sake of his unborn child, Ste gets a job in Il Gnosh restaurant and begins taking anger management classes.

Ste becomes friends with Natty, Daniel and Abi and begins a short-lived relationship with Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter), which he ends to focus on getting Amy back. Amy gives birth to her and Ste's son Lucas Hay, helped by Ste, Daniel and Abi. Amy, however, suffers from post-natal depression, and leaves to live with her grandmother, leaving Lucas and Leah with Mike, who later leaves them in Ste's care. Abi and Daniel begin to help Ste with looking after Lucas, with plans of taking Lucas to replace their own son who died. Abi starts drugging Ste as Daniel turns him against Natty, who grows suspicious of Daniel and Abi's interests. Mike finds Ste asleep whilst looking after Lucas, so takes him. However, Ste takes Lucas back and bans Mike from seeing him. Ste almost shakes Lucas, so Daniel convinces him to give his son up. The truth is revealed, Daniel is arrested and later released, he and Abi leave the village. Amy returns and slowly begins to bond with her children again. They move into their old flat together.

When Tony fires him, Ste starts working at Chez Chez nightclub as a barman. Ste grows suspicious of Brendan Brady after he uses Carmel to smuggle drugs. Ste's former co-worker and love interest Rae Wilson (Alice Barlow) returns following a stay with her ill grandmother. Brendan is jealous of their relationship, so gets Veronica (Lynsey McLaren) to kiss Ste, which Rae witnesses. They later make up after Ste convinces Rae that the kiss meant nothing. Following a drunken night, Ste kisses Brendan, who then throws him out. The next day, Brendan corners Ste and kisses him again. In the club a further day later, Ste follows Brendan to a cellar and moves to kiss him. However, Brendan punches Ste, who falls to the ground. Brendan then makes Ste tell Cheryl Brady (Bronagh Waugh) he was mugged. Ste avoids Brendan, still shaken by his actions. They resume their relationship and Ste tells Amy of his relationship. This prompts Brendan to attack Ste again. Amy realises that Ste is being abused. To hide their relationship, Brendan tells Ste to go out on a date with Rae. When Rae and Ste finally sleep together, Amy is hospitalised after being involved in a fire. Ste suspects Brendan started the fire. However, he denies it. Ste discovers Brendan's former lover Macca (Drew Dillon) is in hospital after being beaten up by Brendan. Macca and Ste end up kissing. Ste later confides in Dominic Reilly (John Pickard) about Brendan and the fire, however Dom is later charged.

Ste starts a relationship with Rae. Ste is angered when he sees Brendan has assaulted Trev Costello (Scott Neal), who he thinks is gay, leading him to believe that Brendan's denial of his sexuality is leading him to gay-bash, ending their relationship. Ste later decides to give Brendan a second chance. Brendan reluctantly agrees to a date with Ste and the pair go to a gay bar, but Brendan bails. Rae reveals to Ste that she is pregnant. Amy convinces Brendan to end his affair with Ste. Whilst sharing a goodbye kiss, Brendan and Ste are caught by Mitzeee (Rachel Shenton). Ste becomes jealous when Brendan and Mitzeee agree to pretend to be a couple. Rae catches them kissing, she suffers a miscarriage. Ste ends his affair with Brendan when he attacks him again. Ste gets revenge on Brendan by hitting him with a cricket bat. Brendan says they are even, he reveals the truth to Cheryl. Cindy helps Ste and Noah start a relationship and Noah convinces him to come out everyone. Brendan later seduces Noah in an attempt to split the pair up. Ste forgives Noah realising Brendan's intentions. Noah secures a job in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Ste agrees to move away with him. Brendan is angered by this and sets Noah up once again. Ste catches Noah kissing Sean (Matt Kennedy), Ste ends their relationship which forces Noah to leave alone. Brendan confesses love for Ste and they sleep together and Brendan's wife Eileen Brady (Rachel Doherty) walks in on them. Eileen tells Brendan he cannot see his son Declan Brady (Jay Duffy) unless he does not see Ste. Brendan tells Ste they have to pretend until Declan returns to Ireland. Ste and Brendan break it off because of this and Ste leaves to go on holidays with his kids. When he returns, he sees Declan and happens to mention his sexuality which causes Brendan to panic and gives Ste a black eye. Ste decides to go to the police but Brendan convinces him not to for the sake of Declan.

Brendan fires Ste to get him out of his life. Ste starts a business with Doug and meets a guy called Adam online. He goes on a date with Adam making Doug jealous because he has feelings for Ste. When Ste and Adam are on a date, Doug makes a pass at Texas Longford (Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove) which causes a scene. When Ste and Adam kiss at the end of their date, Doug expresses jealousy. After an argument, Ste realises Doug may be in love with him which causes awkwardness between the two. Adam dumps Ste believing Ste to be in love with someone else. After Doug finds out, they have another argument and end up kissing. Ste insists Doug must figure out who he is and come out before they can have a relationship. Doug then leaves Ste on his own at the Deli so he can figure himself out. During this time, Ste is approached many times by Brendan. Doug finally comes out and tells Ste exactly how he feels and they kiss which is witnessed by Ste. After feeling pressured, Doug tells Ste the loan he got to buy the deli is actually from Brendan. Ste reacts badly and tells Doug its over. Brendan offers to be silent partner of the deli. Ste signs the contract but is still not satisfied with Brendan being a part of the business. Ste kisses Brendan and signs the deli over to him before asking for an equal relationship. Ste leaves a note for Brendan telling him that he has been fooled and that he wants Doug and the deli and not him.

Ste experiences many ups and downs in his relationship with Doug following conning Brendan. Doug's insecurities over Ste and Brendan's relationship causes him to propose to Ste. Ste accepts and following an explosion at the Brady's home, he goes to the hospital to break the news to Brendan. When Brendan gets out of hospital, Ste helps him out which annoys Doug. Ste and Doug book a venue for the wedding and Ste is delighted when he finds out his kids are able to attend. Ste discovers that Doug has been trying to find evidence on Brendan's past crimes so he will be imprisoned. Ste decides not to marry Doug but later changes his mind to goes through with it. At the wedding reception, Ste discovers a recording of Brendan admitting to murdering Danny Houston (Darren Day) on Doug's phone and declares their marriage over and leaves. Leah runs onto the road while a bus driven by Maddie Morrison (Scarlett Bowman) is heading towards her. She swerves to avoid Leah but hits Ste and crashes into the wedding venue. Ste is comatised and Brendan comforts Doug.

After Ste recovers, Doug's parents force him to return to America with them. Ste tries to get back with Brendan but Brendan punches him because he made a promise with God that if Ste survives he will stay away. Cheryl tells Doug that Ste still loves Brendan a d he leaves. Ste goes to Dublin to find Brendan but finds John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) in his bed. They argue and Ste leaves feeling betrayed. Brendan finds him and they have a heart to heart and they finally get together but Brendan's father arrives and causes trouble for them which causes Amy to take Leah and Lucas away from him. Later, Walker uses new barman Kevin Foster (Elliot Balchin) to stalk Brendan and eventually frame him for sexual assault. When it all gets to much, a drunk Brendan hits Ste. Brendan kills Walker by pushing in front of a train. Brendan tells Ste that his father sexually abused him when he was a kid. Ste tells Brendan that he loves him and tells Cheryl he thinks they will get their happily ever after. When Brendan's father attacks Brendan, Cheryl shoots him. After a stand-off with the police, Brendan confesses to killing his father and four other murders. He is sent to prison, leaving Ste devastated. Ste starts dealing drugs with Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) and befriends Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis). He discovers his mother has cancer and decides to look after her and agrees to help her die. Tony discovers this and tries to change his mind but Ste does it anyway. Ste is arrested and charged but he gets a suspended sentence. He reconciles with Doug and they decide to move to America after Ste is threatened by Trevor. At their leaving party, Sinead accidentally brings a bomb after she brings the wrong bag and the bomb explodes. Doug saves Sinead and goes back in to save Ste. The roof collapses on top of them, trapping them. They have a heart to heart and Ste is eventually rescued. He waits for Doug to come out but is horrified when Doug is bought out in a bodybag. Ste contemplates suicide but is stopped by Danny Lomax (Stephen Billington) who reveals himself to be his father. Ste then discovers that he has three sisters Leela (Kirsty Leigh Porter), Tegan (Jessica Ellis) and Peri (Ruby O'Donnell).

Ste begins working in Tony's restaurant but it suffers a financial crisis so he starts dealing drugs again to save the restaurant. He grows closer to John Paul but John Paul is sent to prison. After Sinead's daughter dies, Ste helps her after her family disown her. Ste becomes addicted to drugs and when John Paul is released from prison, they begin a relationship. Ste is devastated when his dad dies in a car accident along with his wife. Ste finds out who raped John Paul and they have a fight and Ste sleeps with Sinead. Ste supports John Paul during the trial but can't stop taking drugs. Ste robs from The Hutch and accidentally pushes Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher) against a table, knocking her unconscious. Sinead and John Paul discover this but agree to keep quiet. Ste is devastated when he discovers Tegan has cancer and has a one-night stand with a man he doesn't remember. Ste goes to rehab and comes face to face with his abusive stepfather Terry. Ste proposes to John Paul and they have a Christmas wedding but it is ruined when Sinead announces she is pregnant with Ste's baby. John Paul eventually forgives Ste and agrees to look after the baby with him. Ste discovers he may have HIV and him and John Paul get tested and John Paul comes back negative but Ste comes back positive. John Paul promises to stick by him but becomes jealous of his friendship with Sinead. Sinead falls in love with Ste and plans on breaking him and John Paul up. Ste kisses Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool), Tony's son, at a nightclub but is attacked by two thugs in a hate crime. Ste and John Paul split up and Sinead gives birth to their daughter Hannah. Ste moves in with Sinead but is shocked when he discovers that she is in love with him. After they argue, Ste takes drugs but later pleads with Sinead to stay with him. Ste and Sinead get engaged but he begins an affair with Harry behind her back. When Sinead finds out she leaves the village with Hannah. Tony discovers their relationship at the village pride and doesn't approve of their relationship. Ste and Harry start a relationship but Tony makes him see that he is ruining Harry's life. Ste breaks up with Harry on his 18th birthday and gets back together with John Paul. On Christmas Day, John Paul realises that Ste still loves Harry and they break up and Ste reconciles with Harry. They move in with Leela but her boyfriend Cameron Campbell (Cameron Moore) doesn't want them living with him and makes up false accusations about Ste so they out and end up homeless. When Ste thinks about dealing drugs again, Harry sleeps with another man for money and when Ste finds out, they break up. Cameron gives Ste crystal meth and he later becomes addicted. Ste joins Cameron on a boat trip so Cameron can scatter his fathers ashes. A fight ensues and Cameron knocks Ste off the boat. Ste struggles because he can't swim and Cameron considers leaving him to die but saves him at the last second.

In a special three hander episode, Ste carries on with his drug addiction and Harry tells him that Tony is looking into a rehabilitation center for Ste. When Harry refuses to give Ste money for drugs, Ste storms off and Harry follows him but Ste punches Harry. Harry overhears Ste tell Tony that he isn't a domestic abuser anymore. Harry quizzes Tony on this and Tony tells him about Ste and Amy. The next day, Harry returns to Ste and he agrees to go to the rehabilitation center.

When Ste returns from rehab, he goes to see Leah and Lucas but instead meets Ryan Knight (Duncan James), Amy's new fiancé. Ste is hurt when Leah doesn't want to see him. Amy and Ryan move to Hollyoaks with the kids when Ryan becomes the new police officer at the local police station. Leah grows closer to Ste but Amy decides to take full custody of the kids due to Ste's drug addiction. Ste has a blackout and nearly attacks Amy which Leah witnesses and refuses to see Ste. However, Leah later forgives him. Ste later discovers that Ryan cheated on Amy with Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe) and she throws Ryan out. Ryan returns from America and asks Amy to marry him and she accepts. At their wedding, Ryan asks Amy to move to America with him and she agrees but after seeing a tender moment between Ste and the kids, she declines. Harry discovers that Ste slept with John Paul and they fight, kncking a glass of wine over Amy's dress. Furious, she decides to move to America. However, Leah accidentally tells Ste about them moving and he quickly organises a custody meeting but Amy and Ryan are granted to move to America. That night, Amy is found dead in her flat and Ste is the prime suspect because they argued before her death and he suffered a blackout so he is unable to remember anything. The police arrest Ste when they find out that Harry gave him a false alibi. Ste confesses to killing Amy even though he doesn't recall what happened that night. Tony visits Ste and proposes to him on Harry's behalf. The next day Harry visits and proposes to Ste and he happily accepts. James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan) is hired as Ste's lawyer. He is later found not guilty, but this not accept by Amy mother Kathy since she blames him for abusing her leading herself to shoot him and then being arrested for attempted murder. He late break up with Harry & after Ryan has an outburst at Tegan, Ste goes round to Ryan's house to give him a piece. They argue for a while then kiss out of the blue and sleep together. The next morning, Ryan kicks him out and asks Ste not to tell Tegan anything. Ste tells Ryan he is going to tell Tegan but when she explains to Ste that Ryan is the best thing in her life, he can't bring himself to tell Tegan.

After Harry dumps Ste, he has a drink in The Loft when Ryan arrives. They talk and Ste ends the conversation with "I want to do something I know I really shouldn't do". Later, it shows a scene of Tegan walking in on Ste and Ryan yet again kissing and heading to the bedroom. The secret affair continues even after Tegan gets sent into a coma. They eventually come out as a couple after Leah prints out pictures of their text conversations when Ryan was AWOL and Leela finds them. She presents them at Amy's remembrance day and Ste and Ryan take a short break while Ryan thinks about his feelings. Even at Leela's disapproval, Ryan and Ste get back together. After job hunting for a while, Ryan tells Ste he got a great job in Brazil and Ste reluctantly agrees. As Ste gets more suspicious of Ryan, Ryan gets more desperate to leave the country before he can be arrested for the murder of Amy Barnes, Geoffrey Thorpe and the attempted murder of Tegan Lomax. When Ste finds out, he locks Ryan in Luke and Mandy's (Amy and Ryan's old) flat and tortures Ryan. Ryan escapes but is caught by the police.

After Ste finds out that Ryan was the killer of one of the most important person in his life, He is so devastated that he fall in the drugs again. Harry finds him and convinces him to stop using the drugs and Ste kisses him. Harry suggests they go camping and that they still love each other, though Ste is not sure if he loves Harry. To please the kids they go camping and Ryan finds them. Ste later learns that Ryan is dead. Harry tells Ste that he left Ryan to drown and Ste doubts about their relationship. However, Ste quickly forgives him, because Harry is still the man he fell in love with, and accepts the earlier made proposal from him. Ste warns Harry multiple times to stay away from James as he tries to get his own business running, but finds out Harry hasn't been doing that when Harry gets arrested for smuggling in a phone. To explain himself Harry tells Ste he's been sleeping with random men for months and knows James didn't kill Kyle because Kyle was going to pay him for sex. Ste and Harry find Kyle and James gets released from jail. Tegan tells Ste that he should forgive Harry because of all the mistakes Ste has made in the last two years. Ste does this and the two get back together. When Tony goes missing Ste is the only person that continues to look for him and eventually finds him and brings him home. In October Ste and Harry gets married, but a few hours later Ste overhears a phone call between James and Harry and finds out that Harry has been having an affair with James for three months. The wedding day is targeted by Storm Belinda and Tegan is severely injured when a branch fall on her. In the hospital Ste asks Harry to stay with him but Harry tells Ste he is in love with James and cannot be there for him anymore. Later Tegan dies in the hospital due to complication from a surgery Misbah performed in the pawn shop. The next day Ste tells Harry to leave town and he starts his mission to destroy Misbah's career. To brighten up the day, however, Sinead has returned and Ste is soon enough reunited with his daughter Hannah. Though Laurie, was informed that Hannah dad was dead.

After the death of Tegan and his failed marriage, Ste meet Jonny Baxter (Ray Quinn), who pretends to be a son of Pauline that she gave up shortly after giving birth. Where Ste's family questions this, Ste decides to believe Jonny's word and Jonny moves into the Lomax home. When Terry returns Jonny is there to support Ste through it and has Terry beaten up. Showing Ste that Jonny is a support that he can count on. Someone that has his back. Later Jonny introduces Ste to his friend Stuart Sumner, who is the head of a far right extremist group and it becomes clear that they have their eyes set on making Ste a part of their group. After manipulating the situation and feeding into Ste's anger over the Maaliks. Ste commits his first hate crime by smashing apart a bike belonging to Amir. Who he believes attacked Jonny. Peri has already caught on to Jonny racist opinions but Ste doesn't think they are that bad. When Leela comes back home from her trip away, she is informed about the memes Ste has made and the violence. Ste tries to convince her it was all justified but Leela point out she's not even sure who is talking any more at this point, but it's not Ste. She tells Ste it's either them or Jonny and Ste picks Jonny. Stuart buys Cindy's house and Jonny, Ste and the kids move in there. Tony is desperate to make Ste open his eyes and continues to reach out to him, he ends up discovering who Jonny and Stuart really are, pushing Jonny and Stuart to tell Ste about their movement. Once informed, Ste decides he wants to join them. After making a mistake costing them a legal protest march against the islamification of Britain, Ste organizes a new one, angry with Tony for ratting him out to the police after a violent outburst a day earlier. The illegal protest becomes violent and Ste is arrested. Afterwards both his family and friends along with Stuart and Jonny turn against him and Ste falls back on the booze. Peri tries to convince Ste to just apologize and come back home, but Ste decides to ask Stuart and Jonny for another chance. When he passes their test of loyalty, he gets the matching tattoo of the brotherhood and he has now officially joined. A week later Peri and Leela inform Ste that Jonny is not his brother. Despite being initially shocked at this reveal, Ste still decides that Jonny and Stuart are the ones he needs to be with and picks the brotherhood over his family. But there's more bad news for Ste as he discovers that Harry has been murdered, but doesn't know that Breda actually murdered him. He later feels guilty and tries to attempt to rebuild his relationship with him. A week after Harry's death, he discovers that Jonny and Stuart were actually far right extremists that ruined Sami's family including Yasmine who becomes deaf, he attempts to escaped which is a success after Stuart's son Sid Sumner (Billy Price), pushes his father to his death and Jonny gets arrested. After Stuart's death, the entire village turn against him including Yasmine because she blames him for ruining her family including her younger brother Irman being expelled from school and her mother nearly losing her job. He later sleeps with Sami's brother Azim Desai, but he doesn't know if he is going to trust him or not. Ste later departs to visit Doug's relatives. Months later, Ste returns to the village and bumps into Yasmine and Tom, who confronts him. Ste reveals to Yasmine that he moved to Newcastle, got a job, but was fired by his boss who found out about his involvement with the Far Right Group, and ended being homeless. He later re-hired at the Hutch after Tony forgives him, but Mandy refuses it due to his actions that he had caused. Ste tells that while he staying with Doug parents before going to Newcastle, he mentions that the couple still friendly towards him, and is shocked when he discover that Breda killed Harry.

Memorable info
Born: 9th January 1990

Full Name: Steven Hay

Parents: Danny Lomax and Pauline Hay

Siblings: Leela Lomax (half-sister), Tegan Lomax (half-sister), Angela Hay (half-sister)

Spouse: Doug Carter (2012-2013; civil partnership), John Paul McQueen (2014-2017), Harry Thompson (2018-2019)

Children: Leah Barnes (adoptive), Lucas Hay (2009), Hannah Hay-O'Connor (2015)