Yeah I can't help feeling Sam is becoming a bit of a flop - I wish he'd stayed in EE it would have been so much better for him. I still can't imagine him doing a strong South USA accent!

We don't know what is going on maybe he has gone for lots of castings but has failed to get any roles I do however feel like his career is going nowhere at the moment and his talent is being wasted.

Sam went into EE with only one acting job behind him and then left after 1 year and did 3 roles and then nothing in a year. It is not a substantial CV and you would have thought he might want to get more acting experiences maybe do theatre. He might have been able to get roles in the UK but now being based in the USA it makes less likely he will take up any offers

To be fair to Sam he must be looking at what Johnny has done since he returned so far and think he was right to leave

The difference is they were building up to a story with Johnny when Sam left.
Johnny x Ben would have featured a clash between Shirley and Phil, and have Carters vs Mitchells. It'd also have caused tension with Abi and potentially Jay.

The Ben and Paul storyline was okay, but if it was with Johnny, there'd have been much more potential for clashes and drama.

I think they're slow with NuJohnny partially to allow him to integrate in the show and partly due to the change in EP

I don't think there was ever gonna be anything between Johnny and Ben.
Hence why Sam left, there wasn't much for him to do.


Hopefully this go round, they actually go through with some good stories and a nice romance (steven). There's even more potential tension here given his past. Also give Johnny some stories that don't just revolve around his sexuality.
I want layers.

I disagree Lux, I think the idea for Johnny/Ben was right there in the conception of Johnny's character and this was specifically one of the reasons why DTC brought Ben back (the other big reason was so he could be a suspect in the Who Killed Lucy storyline.) Right from the start we were given the idea that Linda's worst fear was Johnny getting himself involved with a guy who would walk all over him. We also got a ton of initial tension between the Carters and the Mitchells. Then I think Sam handed his notice in around June/July time and the ideas for an Autumn/Winter storyline for them were scuppered, so we were left with some rather half-hearted scenes between Ben and Johnny while they figured out what to do with Ben. They knew they couldn't keep him in the closet indefinitely, and at that point I suspect that DTC thought Sam would return after a year, so he decided to give him a new love interest in Paul, but the storyline again felt pretty half-hearted initially as there was nowhere near the drama that Ben/Johnny would have created between the Mitchells and the Carters. They tried to make both Pam and Phil resistant to it in their own way but there was never any real tension behind it, hence why they probably racked up Abi's craziness, to make the storyline more 'soapy'.

Anyway, long story short, I think DTC then hit upon the idea once he knew he was recasting Johnny, to kill Paul off in a big issue-led storyline in a homophobic attack which would also serve to make Ben angry and repressed all over again. So now with DTC leaving, we've got both characters at a fairly 'blank' point meaning the new producer has the choice to put Johnny with Ben, or give him a new love interest and have Ben get angry and jealous over it all while he deals with his own demons around Paul.

This is why I believe Ben/Johnny will happen but not immediately, and that in the mean time we'll get Steven/Johnny.

Obviously this is all speculation but I've thought about this a lot!

Episode update: Remember guys, Johnny is in every episode this week apart from tonight (Monday.) Next week he is only in Tuesday, and fairly low down the cast list, but it sounds like a pretty boring week so hopefully that's a good thing. Although saying that, Steven gets the duff duff on Friday with Kyle below him; I can't imagine why they'd be sharing a dramatic scene together so either (best case scenario), Johnny is being kept off the cast list that episode and we'll get the surprise of them sleeping with each other. Or more likely we'll learn a secret of Steven's, maybe what happened in New Zealand that he's running from.

Even though it's speculation, I'd really hope they don't just use steven//johnny as a stepping stone for ben/johnny.

I just never liked the coupling of B & J.
probably because I'm not really fond of Ben's character at all lol.
Plus I see a lot more potential stories for S & J.
Wouldn't mind Tom being used as a stepping stone for S&J though.

This would be my ideal scenario to be honest! I know it's a minority opinion here, but I'd love to see Ben/Johnny.

All opinions are welcome on here. I'd personally like to see Ben deal with his issues before he goes near Johnny (or at least some of them, this is a soap after all and we don't want Johnny in a completely boring, vanilla relationship) but other than that I have no real objection to them getting together. It depends on how it's portrayed on screen really.

In #Johven news, Aaron Sidwell has given us a very vivid mental image with his latest tweet.

https://twitter.com/aaronsidwell/sta...43620010545160

@aaronsidwell Is Steven screwing Johnny Carter?!

Aaron SidwellVerified account
‏@aaronsidwell Aaron Sidwell Retweeted ✘ BEN & PAUL
Balls deep!

I have a huge crush on Ted! I hope he gets his own story soon. Lee bores me.

Welcome to the thread, Aiden. I can't comment on your view on Lee because I like him. But I agree that Ted is lovely and very crush-worthy in the role of Johnny.

I noticed in the future spoilers there is talk about a birthday celebration taking place at the end of August. Any chance it could be Johnny?

He must one of the few characters currently in EE who have not had a on screen birthday (even Paul had a birthday mention!) and surely it is time EE rectified this. We still are not sure if he is, 20 or 21

I wondered that too. Would be great to get confirmation of Johnny's birthday (and his age!) Plus lots of room for drama at a birthday party... and maybe a sneaky birthday kiss with someone.

But the odds of it being his are fairly low. There are so many other characters.

Johnny seemed pleased to see Tom tonight

He did. Which does still raise the question of why he turned him down in the first place!

I enjoyed Johnny in tonight's episode. He was sweet and caring and got a bigger role then I was expecting. I liked that he was the one who picked up on Linda's mood and the reason for it.

Thought there'd be some type of dialogue between them but nope lol

I enjoyed seeing him because he's Johnny and I'm a fan, but he always just seems to hover in the background. I want him to get a proper meaty storyline and step to the front!

Very true. Can't remember if it was here or another thread I said this, but Johnny has been a spectator ever since he returned. He's had no plots where he's the one driving the action forward, everything he does is a reaction to other people's stories. Of course none of this is new information and we're all too aware on here that Johnny has been neglected since his return but once again we can only hope that he's used better by the new producer than he has been by DTC.

Me too. I really like this version of Johnny but he needs to do something!!

The birthday party the week after next is Shakil's, not Johnny's unfortunately.

There is another spoiler about one resident having their eye on someone on the Thursday episode which could relate to Johnny but could relate to a lot of other characters as well.

I hope its Steven and Johnny.

I have just seen the news that the new producer SOC has axed Lee Carter

I am sad about this because I liked Lee Carter and thought he was fine within the context of the Carter Family. We wondered why Johnny and Lee have not bonded since Johnny returned and this might be it. Not much point developing any relationship now.

I do wonder if Whitney is going as well and that Lee & Whitney leave after the baby is born maybe to live with Bianca or Lee gets a new with a new house for them to live. I just hope they don't kill off Lee but I think it is a distinct possibility because why else would Lee leave his wife/baby and parents alone

So where does this leave Johnny? Is SOC planning a different Carter family involving none of the original Carter kids and Johnny will leave too (Ted not getting his contract renewed so leaves next year) or does SOC want Johnny to stay. Is Ben key to Johnny's future in EE?. If SOC wants Johnny/Ben to be a couple he has a much longer term future but if not and SOC is bringing in a new character to be Ben's future love interest hard to see Johnny staying.

Worrying times I think while the SOC cast cull continues and the Carter family future for the next few months looks totally unclear with Linda temporary exit and now Lee going . Feel sorry for Ted who seems to be loving working on EE hope he is future resolved soon hopefully with a new contract.

I'm hoping with Lee gone Johnny will finally get some attention! I can't see them axing Johnny and Lee when Linda is going on leave to have a baby as that would only leave Mick, Shirley, Tina and Babe as Carters and Tina should be axed before Johnny!

That may be the new producers plan, to completely get rid of the Carters. We don't know. He may want to stamp a completely new mark on the show and getting rid of the Carters from the Vic would be the most dramatic way to do that.

I am worried by the news of Danny Boy Hatchard's axing, not just because I like Lee but because Lee is a more established and than Johnny, so if SOC can get rid of him he wouldn't bat an eyelid at getting rid of Johnny. We know we've got until next year until Ted can go, presuming he was brought in on a year's contract (although I suppose it's possible as he came in towards the end of DTC's tenure that he had a six month one?) so hopefully between then and now it will become a bit more apparent whether he's valued within the current cast, and we can brace ourselves for the worst if we see he's just not getting any storylines.

I feel really sad by this news to be honest.

I doubt Ted/Johnny is going anywhere, I'd literally drop it like I did when Sam left if so but I see him sticking around for hopefully a few years.
I just wanna see Johnny's stories unfold.
His existence (if SOC is smart) doesn't need to depend on Ben either.

I think with Lee gone, Johnny will step forward more and probably help Whitney (I'm assuming Lee is gonna die..by suicide..I've been guessing it for awhile).
I think it'd be good for Johnny to decide to really involve himself in the raising of Lee and Whitney's baby.
If Tina isn't axed then I think Zsa Zsa may come back for a storyline with Tina, just something else I think will probably happen..if not some other unintroduced Carter will come in or maybe Elaine will return mostly because IF..and only if Lee dies I can see her returning as the Carter family will be in shambles. It'll be a huge hit to them.