Lucas Hay | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by |
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Duration | 2009–2019, 2021–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 2530 3 April 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Bryan Kirkwood (2009) Lucy Allan (2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lucas Hay is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Oscar Curtis. Lucas is the son of Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) and Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies), and the half-brother of Leah Barnes (Elá-May Demircan) and Hannah Hay-O'Connor (Maddison Allen). He was born on-screen in episode 2530, originally broadcast on 3 April 2009. The character was of recurring status from 2009 to 2023, being portrayed by three different child actors, but the role was promoted to regular when the recast of Oscar Curtis was announced. Since the characters' recast, series producers Hannah Cheers and Angelo Abela placed Lucas at the forefront of a conversion therapy issue-based storyline that saw Lucas subsequently struggling to come to terms with his sexuality whilst being incorrectly influenced by his headteacher Carter Shepherd (David Ames) to hate homosexuality.
Lucas was previously portrayed by three different child actors, Jude Rawley from 2009 to 2012, Rueben Thwaites from 2012 to 2013 and William Hall from 2013 to 2022. Lucas' storylines in the serial include being in various custody battles between Amy and Ste, along with Leah; coming to terms with his mother's death; spiralling out of control whilst battling his sexuality after falling in love with his best friend Dillon Ray (Nathaniel Dass), being coerced into conversion therapy by his headteacher Carter and his friendship with Frankie Osborne (Isabelle Smith). Curtis' resemblance to Richardson, who portrays his on-screen father Ste and his own similar portrayal of Lucas have been noted by fans and various tabloids, whilst the pairing of Lucas and Dillon by writers has been dubbed "HayRay" by fans.