His plan was finally uncovered…
Hollyoaks spoilers follow from Friday’s episode on Channel 4 streaming, which doesn’t air on E4 until Monday.
Hollyoaks teased a dramatic downfall for Carter Shepherd after he was exposed ahead of the village’s Pride Festival.
Carter has had an eventful stint in the village since accepting his post at Hollyoaks High, with the headmaster pressuring students into denying their sexuality as part of Declan Hawthorne’s conversion clinic.
One student who has fallen under his dark spell is Lucas Hay, with last night’s (April 25) episode seeing the pair discuss their plan to hijack the Pride Festival to promote their bigotry.
Tonight’s (April 26) first-look episode began as John Paul continued in his efforts to help Lucas. Carter had already taken the next step in his plan, as he set Lucas up with Hannah Ashworth, who has been blackmailed into sex work.
After spotting a photo of Lucas’ dad Ste, Hannah realised that Carter is attempting to convert Lucas as part of his clinic, with the worker calling off the arrangement after seeing through Carter’s manipulation.
Lucas returned to Carter to inform him of what happened, with the furious headmaster ordering him to declare his love for God at the festival. Just as he yelled, John Paul entered the room and attempted to get to the bottom of the situation.
A heated exchange, which saw John Paul deduce that Carter was still practising his conversion therapy, ended with a kiss, but it wasn’t purely for romance, as John Paul noticed that Carter had concealed a key.
Despite their brief moment of passion, John Paul issued one last warning, as he urged Carter to stay away from the students. The headmaster subsequently had another matter on his hands as he confronted Hannah.
After she refused to budge following his threats, Carter attempted to find some more leverage but noticed that his key had gone missing. John Paul had managed to snag it during their kiss, and he finally saw what Carter was planning for Pride.
Realising that the game was up, Carter frantically concocted a plan to head to a church in America with Lucas, but the youngster didn’t seem too happy with the idea – what will happen to the pair?…
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
