| Scott Drinkwell | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Ross Adams | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2015–2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 27 April 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 15 July 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||||||||||||
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Scott Drinkwell (also Drinkwell-Deveraux) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ross Adams. The character made his first appearance on 27 April 2015. Producers asked Adams to audition for the role while he was working as a script editor on rival soap opera Emmerdale. The actor forgot his lines during his screen test but was still offered the role. The character was billed as a "troublesome new relative" joining the show's established O'Connor family. He is the cousin of Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis) and nephew to Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher). Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood introduced the character to cause conflict with other characters.
Scott is openly gay and has a "camp and outgoing" personality. His characterisation and loud troublemaking antics have caused controversy with Hollyoaks viewers. The divisive character generated many complaints over concerns that Hollyoaks were stereotyping gay men. Kirkwood released a statement noting the show's history of including a diverse selection of LGBT character. He argued that there was no reason not to include a camp gay man after previously representing other personalities. Adams echoed his boss' sentiment and voiced his concern that the soap opera genre had shied away from depicting camp characters.
The character's storylines were originally centric to those featuring Sinead. Following Davis' dismissal from the show, writers began to create stories solely about Scott. He has been involved in storylines including poisoning his aunt Diane, pretending to have HIV, being tricked into kidnapping Rose Lomax by Rose's "mother" Tegan Lomax (Jessica Ellis), was manipulated by James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan) into ruining his family's restaurant business and finding out that he is adopted. Scott's main relationship has been with John Paul McQueen (James Sutton), which was constantly undermined by James. In 2017, Scott attempted to commit suicide, following a battle with depression. For his portrayal of Scott, Adams has received nominations for "Best Comedy Performance" and "Scene of the Year", as well as winning the award for "Best Male Dramatic Performance". Adams quit the role in 2024 because he wanted to pursue other projects, with Scott's final scenes airing on 15 July 2024.[1]
- ^ Patterson, Stephen (15 July 2024). "Double Hollyoaks exit confirmed as death mystery is solved". Metro. Retrieved 16 July 2024.