List of Hollyoaks characters introduced in 2008
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks in 2008, by order of first appearance.
Kieron Hobbs
Father Kieron Hobbs, portrayed by Jake Hendriks, was the new priest at St. Timothy's Parish Catholic Church in January 2008. He was taken in by Myra McQueen, who offered him a room without consulting any of her family. While settling into the family, he had caught the eyes of Mercedes and Michaela McQueen. Committed to his religion, he looked out for John Paul McQueen, trying to advise him against a relationship. During an argument, Kieron came out to John Paul. Following this, John Paul threatened to out Kieron if he did not tell Myra the truth, but Kieron said he was happy with his life and stopped John Paul from telling. After a failed Evissa Fashion show at the SU bar, John Paul and Kieron bonded over beer, leading to a kiss. The following day, both agreed to forget about the kiss and resumed their friendship with a game of Truth or Dare, which ended in John Paul publicly purchasing beer in his underwear. However, their relationship became strained after Kieron snapped when he found out John Paul had mentioned him to Hannah Ashworth. A few days later, John Paul saw Kieron baptising Charlie Dean. John Paul realised he could not come between Kieron and his faith, and asked him to move out.John Paul and Kieron struggle to get over each other. Kieron makes friends with Kris Fisher. John Paul cannot stop thinking of him during the 10 km charity run. Following a discussion afterwards, they admitted to their feelings and slept together. Unfortunately for Kieron, their night made John Paul realise he still had feelings for Craig Dean. He told Kieron and they had a fight. Kieron went to live with Niall Rafferty. Kieron confessed his love for John Paul and said he was prepared to risk all for their relationship. While showering after having sex, they were discovered by Steph Dean and Niall and Kieron was forced to end the relationship, walking out on John Paul while Michaela hid, listening. When Michaela told Mercedes that she thought she saw Kieron cheating with Kris, Mercedes punched Kieron in the face. Kieron realised that he loved John Paul McQueen, and was willing to risk everything to be with him. Before the wedding of Steph and Max Cunningham, Myra found out about John Paul and Kieron thanks to Niall. Myra then told the rest of the church at the wedding. After insulting Kieron, she was removed from the church. With approval from Steph and Max, Kieron finished the ceremony. Kieron was shattered knowing his position in the church was ruined, John Paul took this as a rejection. Kieron assured John Paul that he was his life now, and he told Father Raymond he was leaving the church. Myra, when she heard from John Paul that he and Kieron were now in an open relationship was disgusted. After Tina McQueen was in a coma due to Niall pushing her down stairs, John Paul rushed to the hospital. Niall told Kieron that he was tearing their family apart. Upset that he had caused grief for the McQueens, Kieron left for a few weeks. After time away in Aberdeen, Kieron returned and returned to his relationship with John Paul. An annoyed Niall tried to make Kieron think John Paul had spent all his time partying.
Kieron befriends Ste Hay and, while everyone else turned their back on Ste, Kieron took pity and did everything he could to help him after splitting with Amy Barnes, even risking his own life despite a phobia of heights on scaffolding when Ste threatened to commit suicide. Kieron quit his position as a priest. After realising the sacrifices Kieron had made, John Paul asked Kieron to marry him. After a moment, Kieron accepted. Myra was outraged, but soon accepted their plans. The return of Craig led Kieron and John Paul to separate. Some months earlier, Myra had told Kieron about the son she had given up at birth, and by September 2008, Kieron had tracked him down. On 5 September 2008, he confronted Niall, who then poisoned Kieron's drink. During Kieron's final moments, Niall confessed to putting Tina in a coma, drugging Michaela, and making Myra discover John Paul and Kieron's love affair. After Kieron died, Niall makes it look like suicide. When John Paul returned, he found Kieron's body. He called for an ambulance. John Paul sobbed as Kieron was taken away in a body bag. John Paul was not told about Kieron's funeral as such it coincided with Carmel McQueen's wedding to Calvin Valentine and despite getting dressed to go to the funeral after being told about it by Niall, Jacqui convinced him to walk Carmel down the aisle and respect Kieron's family's wishes and pay his respects to Kieron some other time which he did a few days later at his graveside by leaving a voicemail on his phone which he deleted straight after. John Paul did not find out it was murder until Niall attempted to kill the McQueens in October 2008.
Pauline Hay
Pauline Hay played by Jane Hogarth, made her first on-screen appearance in January 2008. She was introduced as the mother of Ste Hay. During Ste's teenage years, Pauline married Terry Hay who beat both her and Ste. After Ste got out of a juvenile facility, he moved in with Amy Barnes and had nothing to do with his family until Pauline showed up for his 18th birthday. She asked him to move back so Terry would stop hitting her. Ste refused. A few months later, Pauline returned, saying Terry was gone and she was on the wagon. She found out that Ste and Amy were lying about Amy's daughter, Leah Barnes having leukaemia, and she demanded the money they had received. She went to a fundraiser with Amy and got drunk. After taking money from the fundraiser, Pauline left, telling Ste he had no right to judge her. Pauline returned in April 2008, arriving at Ste's flat drunk and passing out. Ste became angry and woke her up wanting to know why she was such a bad mother. Pauline blurted out that she wished she had never had him. In February 2009, she arrived for Leah's second birthday. She found out that Ste and Amy had split up and that she was not Leah's grandmother. The next day she stole £200 from the till of Il Gnosh when Ste's back was turned.Pauline returns to Hollyoaks in October 2012 after Ste's boyfriend Doug Carter calls her wanting Ste to have some of his family around for their wedding. Pauline tries to convince Ste that she has changed but quickly reveals that she has not, and calls Ste a "queer". Pauline leaves once again after Ste's ex-boyfriend Brendan Brady pays her, causing Doug to realise her real intentions as she leaves the deli with a smug look. In 2013, Tony Hutchinson is in hospital receiving treatment for testicular cancer. While he is there he meets Pauline, who reveals that she is suffering from terminal cancer and does not want Ste to know she is dying. Tony agrees to keep her secret but decides to tell Ste as Pauline hurts her ankle and needs someone to care for her. Ste is rattled by the news and does not know how to react. Ste later feels he should not care about Pauline dying because of the way she had treated him. Despite this, he later goes to her flat. He finds her in her bedroom appearing frail. Ste later agreed to allow Pauline to move in with him and Sinead O'Connor in her final months to care for her. Whilst Ste and Tony were helping pack up Pauline's belongings, Pauline was eager for a box to be binned. Ste, however, was unaware it was for the bin and brought it anyway. Back at his flat, he looked in the box and discovered it was several birthday cards from his father that Pauline had kept from him growing up.
Roger Kiddle
Roger Kiddle is a Physics lecturer who befriended Elliot Bevan and took an interest in Sarah Barnes. Elliot let Roger sleep in his room while he was busy, and walked in on Roger and Sarah in bed, which helped drive Elliot to a nervous breakdown. When he recovered, he threatened to tell The Dean about it. Meanwhile, Sarah was disgusted by Roger's behaviour towards Elliot and was shocked when she met his wife, Jennifer. In spite of Roger's pleas for her silence, Sarah told Jennifer the truth, Jennifer poured her wine over Roger's head and walking out. Sarah began a relationship with Roger, mostly to annoy her father over the age difference. Zoe Carpenter told Sarah that Roger had made a pass at her so Sarah ended the relationship for good.Eli
Eli showed up on 8 April 2008 and surprised old friend Barry "Newt" Newton. Newt and Eli met in foster care when Newt was 8 and Eli was 12, and the pair had kept in contact ever since. Eli was AWOL from the army and Newt agreed to hide him in his room. He was mentioned before his appearance when Newt and Lauren Valentine discovered the body of Sean Kennedy. Since arriving, Eli began making Newt do pranks, however, the small pranks eventually got more serious, to the level of making a smoke-bomb and planting it in The Loft, and trashing Evissa, which began to scare Newt who did not want to go along with Eli, who made him. Nobody other than Newt interacted with Eli.On 20 June, Lauren found videos that Newt made, of him performing actions that Eli had supposedly done. Finally, whilst Newt and Eli were chanting 'Eli's gonna get ya', Eli disappeared and it was revealed that he never existed. He was Newt's alternate identity, acting out all Newt's thoughts. Newt was then diagnosed with Schizophrenia, and Eli was an audible hallucination caused by this. While in hospital, Newt told Lauren the full story. Eli had been a real person who had been Newt's friend at the children's home. However, on 25 October 2002, Newt's 10th birthday, Eli had had enough of years of foster care and hanged himself. Newt found the body a couple of hours later and was scarred for life. Eli returned in December 2008 after Newt stopped taking his medication. He managed to stir things between Newt and Lauren, which ended up in Lauren going to hospital. Eli left when Lauren burnt his belongings, and Newt threw him out. When he opened the door, Eli was gone.
It was announced Eli would return in September 2009. Newt stopped taking his medication and a vicious attack on Gaz Bennett made him feel like no one believed him. Due to both reasons, Eli returned. Newt Made a friend called Rae, who was suicidal. Eli took an instant disliking to her, taking over Newt's body to attack her however Newt managed to take control before any real harm was done. Newt and Rae decided to commit suicide together, to free themselves, however Rae was revealed to be another persona due to Newt's schizophrenia. Ready to jump into a dockland, Newt pushed in Eli, who did not resurface.