It will star Aaron Sidwell as Steven, but both Sam Strike and Ted Reilly as Johnny. It will co-star Andy.

Christian and Ben will both briefly appear to be killed off. They will not be getting involved in any of the action.

BIB: mmmm yes please!

I really hope something happens between them.

They need to have their own version of Robron tbh!

LOL this thread is so funny

It's nice that it's become busy again, there was a period where it was just me and the awesome popmusicman keeping it alive. Just goes to show how much people want Johnny to get a hot, interesting boyfriend.

They don't come much hotter and more interesting than Steven!

EastEnders totally need their own Robron or Stendan. I don't know why they are so reluctant to pair Johnny up with a nice boyfriend.

(by that I mean anyone but Ben Bloody Mitchell!)

I agree, would much much much prefer Johnny with Steven than with Ben.

Hopefully, Steven will kill off Ben.

I'd like to see Steven cheat on Lauren with both Johnny and Andy (the latter will involve Steven 'taking him by surprise' on the building site), but ultimately end up with Johnny.

Like this idea I'm still hoping we see another side to the very hot Andy.

Andy would have made a very hot bisexual character but now we've got Steven I assume there can only be one hot bisexual guy on the square.

Why have one, when you can have two

Would it be ok if Steven was to go fully gay and Andy could be the bisexual of the square?

I've just read another interview with Aaron Sidwell and still no mention of Johnny. He keeps talking about how Lauren and Steven are solid and in love but that could all be a ploy to fool us.

http://metro.co.uk/2016/06/02/easten...2/?ito=twitter

Interview link here if anyone hasn't read it yet.

Bit of a shame that the Metro didn't ask Aaron about Steven/Johnny, especially as they mentioned his flirtation with Johnny in the introduction. The stuff about Steven being in love with Lauren doesn't really sound very conducive to him being in a relationship with Johnny, so maybe we've all been barking up the wrong tree with this one. Also Aaron Sidwell seems to be pushing #Leaven on Twitter and hasn't responded to any of the tweets regarding Steven and Johnny.

It does seem incredibly silly for them to have such a loaded scene with Johnny and Steven so quickly after introducing Steven if they weren't going to do anything with it.

In slightly more optimistic news, the fact that he talks about Steven being very business-minded does make it sound like he'll be setting up a business before too long which does at least hint at him being a regular character rather than just here for a short period of time, so it may be that there's opportunity for 'Johven' later on down the line now they've seen the positive reaction to them on social media.

What a way to rain on our parade! I won't have it! We need Steven and Johnny to happen!!

We can maybe hope that there is a shock surprise scene where Johnny and Steven are shown in bed together! lol

I'm not convinced that first scene which screamed SEX was for nothing.

Hopefully! I want Mick and Linda to catch them at it together!

To be honest I'm not sure how much more of this false hope I can take with Johnny's love life. I'd be happier if they just didn't give us ANYTHING, rather than these suggestive scenes which never end up going anywhere.

If nothing ends up happening between Steven and Johnny then I think I'll be frustrated enough to take a break for a while. It feels very mean-spirited, the way they keep dangling little snippets for us Johnny fans and then refusing to follow them up.

Sorry, needed to rant!

Surely the Johnny/Steven scene in Stevens first full episode back cant be for nothing. It is a shame they seem to be pushing Steven/Lauren IMO but then again you only have to look back at Stacey's Key, Les's secret & Ryan's return to know that there can be big gaps between SL's beginning and their main narrative in EE lately (fingers crossed).

Someone on Popjustice who claims to be in the know says that Steven is a regular. Hurrah!

A bed scene with Johnny and Steven is a must. If they can show gay love scenes on Hollyoaks at 6.30pm (most nights of the week) they can certainly show it on EastEnders!

That first point is what I'm clinging to. But then, they've also dangled Tom/Johnny in front of us, and even Ben/Johnny (as much as we're all hoping that doesn't happen now that Steven is on the scene), not to mention the whole Danny Pennant debacle during his first stint. It just seems to me that they don't realise how frustrating it is for people who want Johnny to get some action to keep doing this to us.

Agreed on the second point. Hopefully they'll realise later down the line, if they haven't already, that a couple like Steven/Lauren is ten-a-penny in EE, but they potentially have something very special with Steven/Johnny. In a way it's admirable that they don't pander to the gay relationship shippers in the same way that ED seems to with Robron (from what I've heard, anyway), but it seems to be completely in the opposite direction at the moment to the extent that they seem terrified to introduce a gay couple who the audience actually see as 'shippable'.


Good to hear! If Steven is a regular then it does increase the potential for Steven/Johnny by a LOT. Plus Aaron Sidwell is brilliant as Steven, so if he wants to stick around then they'd be absolutely foolish to get rid of him.

Agreed about a bed scene but the BBC are a lot more prudish about this, probably because they know they're much more likely to get complaints than Ch4 are with Hollyoaks, which has a much younger and more tolerant audience. Still, if Ben and Paul can get it on next to a dead person in a coffin (ew, ew and triple ew) then surely Steven and Johnny can both be shirtless in bed together after a particularly energetic session. With Johnny looking wide-eyed and flushed and Steven smoking a cigarette.

I fear that the main reason for the scene was to through us off the scent of Steven x Lauren, and all the speculation will just distract from the inevitable Johnny x Ben pairing

Yeah, that is something that's been at the back of my mind since the the episode finished, but to me the scene *felt* significant, particularly Johnny's reaction to Steven; he genuinely seemed smitten with him on first sight. And it's not like he gets like that often, in fact most of the time he barely seems to register other guys. Is that crush of his just going to disappear the next time they have a scene together? It would be pretty poor continuity if it does.

But then it may just be that he has an unrequited crush on Steven and ends up falling into bed with Ben for comfort sex as a result, leading to Paul's exit. Basically the least imaginative scenario possible.

I wish I hadn't read that interview with Aaron, it's doing my head in now.

I don't know about unrequited. The way Steven said "I'll see you around, Johnny" was basically code for "I'll be ****ing you soon, Johnny".

Maybe, or maybe it was code for 'Lolz this is going to wind up the perverts on Digitalspy.' I much prefer your version though.

In other Johnny news, the week after next seems to have more of a Carter focus, with Mick getting frustrated at the lack of news on Ollie, the Carters 'rallying to help a family member' and Linda finding herself in an uncomfortable position with someone, probably Belinda as she's also mentioned in the spoilers. So, rinse and repeat in terms of Carter storylines, and Johnny probably just being a supporting role to Mick and Linda, but maybe with increased screen time for him we might get a bit more insight into whether the Steven thing is going anywhere or not.