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 LGBTQ 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). The character has been involved in a failed marriage to Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson), being hospitalised due to a drink that was spiked with drugs, being involved in a train crash with his family, which ultimately killed his older sister Carmel McQueen (Gemma Merna), a drunken kiss with student Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool) which jeopardised his career, an affair with cousin-in-law, Lockie Campbell (Nick Rhys) and striking up a friendship with transgender boss Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace), who later reveals that John Paul is her son. John Paul then has relationships with Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams) and James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan). In early 2017, Sutton announced his intentions to leave the serial and the character departed on 9 March 2017.
Sutton 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 regular basis. He returned on 9 December 2019 for two episodes to explore Finn's presence after his release, before returning in a regular capacity on 2 January 2020. Since his return, he was involved in a male domestic abuse storyline with George Kiss (Callum Kerr), and later deals with alcoholism, resulting in him crashing a minibus after suffering from withdrawal symptoms. John Paul later becomes part of a high-profile storyline regarding conversion therapy where Carter Shepherd (David Ames) befriends John Paul in the hopes of supposedly curing him of his homosexuality. In September 2025, it was announced Sutton had quit the role. John Paul departed on 23 February of the following year.
Storylines 2006–2008 John Paul is the sixth of Myra McQueen's (Nicole Barber-Lane) eight children. He grew up around all women and was always the most level-headed of the group. John Paul meets Craig Dean (Guy Burnet) after saving him from a beating by Sonny Valentine (Devon Anderson). John Paul becomes close friends with Craig, Sarah Barnes (Loui Batley), Hannah Ashworth (Emma Rigby), and Nancy Hayton (Jessica Fox).
John Paul and Hannah begin dating and they lose their virginity to each other. While Hannah is head over heels for him, it is apparent John Paul does not feel the same way. After John Paul breaks up with Hannah, everyone mistakenly believes it is because he has feelings for Sarah, who is Craig's girlfriend. John Paul and Hannah later reconcile. At Hannah's 18th birthday party, John Paul emotionally confesses to Craig that he is in love with him. Afterwards, John Paul tells Craig he did not mean it and they agree to forget about it.
Craig drunkenly kisses John Paul at a school dance-off competition. Hannah sees the kiss and announces it to the whole school. John Paul tells a devastated Hannah that he is gay. After Hannah's mother, Suzanne (Suzanne Hall), tells Myra everything, she confronts John Paul about his sexuality. John Paul comes out to his family and while his sisters are supportive, Myra struggles with the revelation. John Paul also comes out to his friends and classmates, which leads to him being teased and bullied. Craig, not wanting to be perceived as gay, attacks John Paul physically, which effectively ends their friendship.
John Paul and Craig later make up and become close again. John Paul begins dating a DJ named Spike (Tom Vaughan). Craig is jealous of all the time John Paul spends with Spike and John Paul tells him that he needs to accept his new relationship. Much to John Paul's surprise, Craig confesses he has feelings for him and they sleep together. Afterwards, John Paul is thrilled, but Craig pretends nothing happened between them. Eventually, they sleep together again and John Paul assumes this means Craig is going to come out. However, Craig tells John Paul that he is not gay, not finishing with Sarah, and wants to see John Paul on the side. John Paul is disgusted by the proposition at first, but he eventually gives in and the two begin an affair.
Craig tells John Paul he loves him and they both agree to finish with their partners so they can be together. John Paul finishes with Spike, but Craig keeps finding excuses not to finish with Sarah. John Paul grows increasingly frustrated with Craig, who keeps on assuring him that they have a future. Spike finds out about the affair and threatens to expose it, but John Paul gets him to back down. Hannah is suffering from anorexia and tells John Paul it was triggered by their break-up, leaving him guilt-ridden.
John Paul finally reaches his breaking point when he finds out Craig and Sarah are engaged when he walks in on their engagement party. John Paul texts Sarah on Craig's mobile and she discovers the two of them kissing. Sarah announces to the whole party what she saw and everyone is left in tatters. John Paul still wants to be with Craig and he is thrilled when Craig tells him he wants to be with him, too. Despite the disapproval of their friends and family, John Paul and Craig officially start a relationship. However, John Paul cannot get over how Craig seems ashamed to be with him. To prove his commitment to him, Craig asks John Paul to move with him to Dublin. At the airport, John Paul overhears Craig tell his brother, Jake (Kevin Sacre), that he is not gay. John Paul asks Craig to kiss him and when he cannot, John Paul tells Craig he loves him with all of his heart, but that he needs more than to be with a man who cannot even display affection towards him. Heartbroken, John Paul returns home, leaving a devastated Craig to go to Dublin alone.
John Paul tries to move on with his life. He begins attending Hollyoaks Community College and makes friends with other students. Hannah has recovered from her eating disorder and she and John Paul agree to be friends. Myra offers their home to a young Catholic priest named Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks). John Paul is shocked to find out that Kieron is gay, but Kieron says it does not matter since he is celibate. An attraction grows between Kieron and John Paul, but Kieron refuses to break his vow of celibacy. Eventually, Kieron cannot deny his feeling for John Paul any longer and they begin seeing each other in secret. Myra is furious when she discovers the relationship, but John Paul tells her she needs to let him make his own choices. Kieron decides to leave the church and they take their relationship public. John Paul proposes to Kieron who joyfully accepts.
A while later, John Paul realises he is too young to get married and calls off the engagement, but he still wants to be with Kieron. John Paul is stunned when Craig returns to the village. Kieron accuses John Paul of not being over Craig, but John Paul insists he is. Kieron gives John Paul an ultimatum: either they get married the following week or it is over between them. John Paul tells a heartbroken Kieron that he cannot marry him. Craig tells John Paul he is not over him and wants a second chance. John Paul admits he still loves Craig and they sleep together. John Paul tells Craig he is and will always be the one for him and that he will finish with Kieron. John Paul is devastated when he finds Kieron dead after he was poisoned by John Paul's secret brother, Niall Rafferty (Barry Sloane). John Paul decides to start fresh with Craig and they leave together for Dublin.
A few weeks later, John Paul reappears when Niall kidnaps all the McQueens. John Paul had been lured back to Hollyoaks by Niall under false pretenses. When Niall makes Myra choose four of her children to die, John Paul volunteers to sacrifice his own life. Niall blows up the church they are in. They all survive except for Tina (Leah Hackett). John Paul later returns to Dublin.
2012−2017 John Paul unsuccessfully attempts to prevent Craig from leaving him at the coach station in Dublin. He ends up meeting Brendan Brady (Emmett J. Scanlan) and sleeps with him. He returns home for Christmas only to find an abandoned baby at his family's doorstep. He later discover Mercedes' actions and Carmel's face accident. John Paul tells Nancy that he is the father. He reveals that he and Craig decided to have a child to save their relationship. However, it is unknown who is the paternal father. He initially rejects the baby, but decides to be a single parent and names him Matthew. He secures a teaching job at the local sixth form. His colleague Jen Gilmore (Amy Downham) gets fired when it emerges she was previously in a relationship with student Tilly Evans (Lucy Dixon). However, when Patrick discovers John Paul's awareness of Jen's actions, he believes he will lose his job, so he and Doug cover Patrick's car with post-its as a prank. It seems John Paul will embark on a relationship with Doug Carter (PJ Brennan), after a tumultuous start, the two sleep together. Later, it turns out that Patrick was not intending to fire John Paul, but suspends him from work because of his prank. John Paul later starts dating Doug but ends because Doug is still in love with Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson).
John Paul meets supply teacher Danny Lomax (Stephen Billington). He kisses John Paul but does not see him for two weeks. John Paul later tells Danny that he will not be treated badly, but they soon begin dating. Matthew's mother, Chloe (Susan Loughnane) arrives and claims Craig is Matthew's father. She demands money or she will fight for custody, but a DNA test proves John Paul as the father. John Paul and Danny find the body of D.S. Trent while on a date. John Paul is upset to learn that Danny is married to Sam Lomax (Lizzie Roper), lies about Danny being present at the discovery and briefly implicates himself in the murder investigation. Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice) and Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham) begin tormenting John Paul. The bullying intensifies with a series of pranks and homophobic abuse directed at John Paul. He tries to reason with Finn and help him with his family problems, but it only makes the situation worse. Follow by Doug death, John Paul shares a kiss with Ste and they grow closer.