| Ste Hay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Kieron Richardson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2006–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 10 February 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | David Hanson (2006) Bryan Kirkwood (2006, 2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ste Hay (also McQueen) 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 10 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 hiatus 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 hiatus from the show departing on 20 November 2019. He returned on 3 November 2020.
Ste has been at the centre of several storylines including joyriding, domestic abuse, a baby kidnapping plot, drug dealing, HIV, far right radicalisation and a gay relationship. He was initially portrayed as a "bad boy" type character. Although he changed, producer Lucy Allan wanted him to revert. The issue of domestic violence has been portrayed through the character on two occasions: the first was his violence towards girlfriend Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies), and the second when he suffered abuse from his boyfriend Brendan Brady (Emmett J. Scanlan). Richardson and co-star Slanina-Davies both fronted an anti-domestic abuse campaign called "Expect Respect" for Women's Aid. He has subsequent relationships with Rae Wilson (Alice Barlow) and Noah Baxter (Law Thompson) which become subject to love "triangle" storylines involving Brendan. Ste's gay storyline prompted Richardson to come out as gay himself. Its aim was to raise awareness of domestic abuse in a homosexual relationship. Whilst Ste and his storylines have received a mixed reaction from critics, Richardson has been nominated for various awards for his portrayal.