John Paul Mc Queen and Craig Dean - Reception and Impact

Reception and Impact

When Craig kissed John Paul, their subsequent romance became a "massive hit, gaining a cult following amongst fans". The John Paul/Craig/Sarah love triangle was also an aspect of the storyline intriguing viewers. Hollyoaks was named Broadcast of the Year at the 2007 Stonewall Awards, held at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. "The Channel 4 soap was honoured for its sensitive depiction of the gay love affair" between Chester teenagers John-Paul and Craig. Stonewall, an organisation that campaigns for equality for gay men and women, praised the show for its "sympathetic and convincing handling" of the "gritty and emotional" storyline. Hollyoaks producer Bryan Kirkwood stated, "I'm really chuffed that Hollyoaks has been recognised at the Stonewall Awards. It's a really prestigious award and one that means a lot to the show, to James and Guy, to our writers and most importantly the audience that engaged with the story." Sutton added that he was "incredibly humbled" by the award, saying, "Stonewall is such an important organisation and it's amazing that we've been recognised by them for all the hard work we put into the storyline."

Despite the show's plotlines sometimes being over-the-top, the romance between John Paul and Craig remained rooted in believability. Sutton’s performance "so resonated with viewers" that he was voted “Most Popular Actor” at the 2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards. In addition, John Paul and Craig's love story was named “Storyline of the Year”. AfterElton.com cited Sutton for being "much of the reason for the storyline’s success". They stated that when they did a poll of their readers in 2007 for The 25 Best Gay Characters on Television, John Paul came in at #21. Sutton had not known about the poll, and when told of it stated, "Wow. That’s really cool. I don’t tend to read too much press and stuff, but I mean I’m aware that we’ve sold the program to other countries and surfing through the Internet, I’m aware that there are people who really, really watch it. I mean I’ve heard from the States and there’s a couple of people who are in the Far East, actually, who regularly post on forums about me and stuff. And that’s just incredible.

John Paul's relationship with Kieron Hobbs created a certain rivalry between the fanbases; the ones wanting John Paul and Kieron together and the ones rooting for John Paul and Craig to end up together. When asked of his choice between the two, Sutton stated, "You’re setting me up for a f**king fall now. Some people are going to be upset if I say Craig and some if I say Kieron. Oh, God. I’ll have to say Craig, I suppose."

Burnet and Sutton, have had different experiences with the fan reaction to the storyline, but both positive. "I don't get to see the forums much," revealed Burnet, "and I don't read too much but I do through James – he reads a lot of the online stuff – and he lets me know. It's so moving that so many people actually care about the storyline." Burnet stated his appreciation for the fans making the storyline what it was. "From my understanding," he cited, "DS is a community of fans – without the fans, there is no show so I think the genuine way to move forward is to base a lot of plotlines – obviously if they're realistic – around what fans and communities want. At the end of the day, it's purely based around them. He voiced that "one thing learned is that there's a lot of politics around television and awards shows – a lot of it is bullshit. But when it comes to the fans, they're genuine. You can't beat the people. It's not a communist society. There's a great power there".

Sutton spoke of his amazement to all the fan reaction. "Very, very surprised. I never prepared myself for that to happen – for such attention to be given to this character and I was a bit overcome by it all, to be honest." He felt that no one warned him what he was in store for: "This just sort of happened. It just really did. Nobody warned me that I would be the focus of so much attention. It’s all been a bit mad, to be honest, in a really positive way. But no, no one could have prepared me for the interest that it’s gained." Sutton stated that he had spoken to young gay men and had e-mail conversations with people about the storyline and being gay and that it "really" opened his eyes to how difficult it can be and the prejudice out there, even still in Middle England, toward homosexuality.

The Internet has made shows like Hollyoaks more accessible to audiences around the world. When John Paul and Craig first slept together, it was not seen as significantly controversial, though prominent controversy was expected, and was rather seen as "incredibly, incredibly popular". For any series to be on at half past six, which is the time that Hollyoaks broadcasts (in the evening), controversy is typical when it involves two young men going to bed together, but this was not a prominent factor for the John Paul and Craig love story. The actors were not slighted in national press, and it was all "fairly positive" and "a story that needed to be told". Producer Kirkwood relayed: “The Craig and John Paul story is one of the biggest and most successful that Hollyoaks has told, winning many awards and legions of fans."

In 2008, while counting down the top ten shows on the tenth birthday of T4, Hollyoaks was voted second, and the storyline was described as the best in the ten years as T4 showed some clips on it.