John Paul McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by James Sutton. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 6 September 2006; his storylines have significantly revolved around his sexuality, evolving from the initial denial of his homosexuality, to the pursuit and relations with best friend Craig Dean (Guy Burnet), the storyline gained a fan-base and garnered them "supercouple status". The storylines received acclaim from LGBT rights charity Stonewall. John Paul later has a relationship with a priest, Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks). In 2008, Sutton quit the serial and his character received a "sunset ending" with Craig, which was promised for fans by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood. Sutton reprised the role in 2012 and John Paul returned on 18 December 2012, after leaving his role as Ryan Lamb in Emmerdale. Producers placed the character at the focus of a male rape story in 2014 when he is assaulted by a student, Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice). In early 2017, Sutton announced his intentions to leave the serial and the character departed on 9 March 2017. He reprised the role on 26 March 2019 for a cameo appearance, and four months later, it was announced that Sutton had reprised the role on a permanent basis. He returned on 9 December 2019 for two episodes to explore Finn's presence after his release, before returning permanently on 2 January 2020.