Hollyoaks spoilers follow from Wednesday's episode on Channel 4 streaming, which doesn't air on E4 until Thursday.
John Paul McQueen is in deep with Carter Shepherd, who has finally unveiled his plan for John Paul.
During tonight's (October 25) episode of Hollyoaks, John Paul had just declined to go on the camping trip with Jackson and was left feeling like a bad father. Upon encountering the downbeat John Paul, Warren Fox shared some advice that made John Paul rethink his decision.
After his talk with Warren, John Paul chose to join the campers after all, hoping to be a better man. But John Paul's doubts quickly crept back in when Carter urged him to partner up with Jackson in a trust activity.
Related: Hollyoaks begins John Paul storyline with newcomer
Jackson wouldn't admit that his attack on John Paul was motivated by his sexuality, causing John Paul to flee and tell Carter he was leaving.
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"How am I supposed to forgive him if he won't even admit to being homophobic?" John Paul stressed.
The camp organiser replied: "God forgives all, why can't you? You've neglected to focus on the one task I set you, which is to focus on yourself. It's always going to be hard because change requires action, and action can be difficult, but it is the only way that we can move forward — or maybe I was wrong about you."
In a surprise move, John Paul returned to the camp and openly forgave Jackson.
"I wasn't ready to go on my journey yet. My journey isn't just about you and me. My journey is about my son, and my journey is about God. I just wanna be a good father, and in order to do that, I need to be free, and I need to forgive you," he told him.
Related: Hollyoaks' Goldie McQueen makes disturbing discovery in Carter story
Having witnessed this huge personal moment for John Paul, Carter took his associate Gareth aside and said: "I think he's ready. Trust me, it's time. He'll soon be rid of his homosexuality..."
And so begins Carter's disturbing plan for John Paul, which was previously confirmed by Hollyoaks producers to be conversion therapy. Carter's 'support group' promoting 'conversion' for LGBTQ+ people will eventually also recruit Dillon Ray and Lucas Hay, Ste Hay's son.
For this storyline, Hollyoaks producers and writers have worked with Josh Parry, a reporter who carried out an undercover investigation into conversion therapy practices at a Liverpool church, and Justin Beck, the subject of the Hollyoaks IRL docu-series episode covering the topic of conversion therapy.
"As someone who themselves has been through gay conversion therapy as an undercover reporter, I have experienced first-hand the misleading and often damaging claims made by so-called conversion therapists. I think Hollyoaks is the perfect platform to bring the reality of these practices to life so that the public can better understand them and the impact they can have," Parry said.
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.
