| Joel Dexter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Rory Douglas-Speed as Joel Dexter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Andrew Still (2011–2013) Rory Douglas-Speed (2016–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2011–2013, 2016–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 22 November 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Gareth Philips (2011) Bryan Kirkwood (2016) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | Hollyoaks Later (2012) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Andrew Still as Joel Dexter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joel Dexter is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks. The character made his debut during the episode broadcast on 22 November 2011, portrayed by Andrew Still. Still was attending the Scottish Youth Theatre when Lime Pictures presented the establishment with a casting opportunity for Hollyoaks. The actor secured two auditions for the role and after the second audition he was offered the part. Joel has been characterised through themes of violence. He is on probation for assault, and he loses his temper with various characters. Despite this, Joel does not like domestic violence because his stepfather hit his mother. His dislike of such violence played a role in his early storylines. He was written out of the series in 2012 and departed on 9 January 2013. On 18 August 2016, it was confirmed that Joel would be returning to Hollyoaks with the role recast to Rory Douglas-Speed; he returned on 8 September 2016.
Joel was originally introduced as a "mysterious newcomer" who is hiding a secret, with it being revealed that he is the long-lost son of established character Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas). Lomas had already announced his intention to leave the series and Joel played a role in Warren's departure storyline. Still has stated that when his character first arrived on-screen, he was "quite floaty" with nowhere to live. Joel was later given further connections to characters within the show, such as Brendan Brady (Emmett J. Scanlan), who gives him a "criminal education", and Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter), who he begins a relationship with. In May 2012, Joel was involved in a stabbing storyline. Still has spoken of his efforts to make the scenes in which Joel is stabbed as realistic as possible, as he felt that many people were victims of stabbing at the time. Upon the character returning to the show in 2016, his storylines haveincluded reuniting with his father, training to become a priest, being targeted by Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) as part of her revenge for her daughter's presumed death, being revealed as responsible for his aunt Katy Fox's (Hannah Tointon) death from a drug overdose and his relationship and later abandoned engagement to Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin). Joel later started a relationship with Cleo's second-cousin, Goldie McQueen (Chelsee Healey).
Still's portrayal of Joel has earned him a "Best Newcomer" award. Anthony D. Langford from AfterElton opined that Joel was a "scrawny teenage boy" and that his storyline with Brendan was "quite laughable". While a Heat reporter said that Joel is a "smug" character. But a columnist from TV Choice said that Joel's stabbing was a "shockingly violent turn", and Laura Morgan from All About Soap branded the scenes "gruesome and dramatic".