Hollyoaks star pitched cross-dressing story himself for important reason

Hollyoaks actor Jonny Labey has opened up about suggesting a cross-dressing storyline for his character and why it made sense to do.

Labey stars as Rex Gallagher, a former gang member and the son of Fraser Black (Jesse Birdsall) and the late Grace Black (Tamara Wall). Rex has not been the nicest person to the residents of Hollyoaks but is trying to make amends whilst also processing his grief over Grace’s death.

As part of a new storyline, Rex was seen admiring his mother’s clothes and put on her lipstick. That story will continue as Rex explores this side of himself with the help of Ro Hutchinson, a trans character played by Leo Cole.

Speaking to Metro about introducing the storyline, Labey said he wanted to make sure the show’s portrayal was sensitive. “I didn’t want it to be a storyline where they just decided, ‘Now it’s this’,” he said. “It has to make sure it’s also coherent to what Rex has been through and make sense to that,” he added.

Labey then explained he pitched the idea as a way of Rex dealing with a “lost identity” from his childhood. “I thought there needed to be something where he was able to express his freedom,” Labey said.

“I thought that as a gay younger boy and teenager, Rex probably was very dancey and liberal and a lot more queer in terms of his acceptance and how he physicalised himself and presented himself. Then all of these layers of gangs and stuff was built on top of it.”

Rex and Ro will bond in future episodes over questions around identity and offer themselves as pillars to each other.

Hollyoaks and the LGBT Foundation are collaborating on the storyline. Matthew James Banfield, the organisation’s Head of Marketing, Communications and Editorial also spoke to Metro.

“What we didn’t want with this storyline, and what Hollyoaks were really open about, was that they were really keen to avoid falling into tropes and things like that,” he said.

Banfield continued: “They were really open about the feedback and really wanted to work with LGBTQ+ people, non-binary people and gender diverse people as well to get this right. They were very open about where they needed our support, our knowledge and our lived experience as well.”

Earlier this year it was announced that John Paul McQueen (James Sutton), a pioneering gay character in British soap history, is leaving the show. McQueen’s exit will reportedly be “explosive”.

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