How? That girl had sex with two men one after the other in the same bed but allegedly consented to one but not the other


Ched was found guilty served time, eventually it has gone to appeal and it has been quashed and he is awaiting re-trial

But the girl was in a right state and apparently consented to sex with one of them but wasn't capable or couldn't remember consenting the second time. One was guilty and one was not guilty

What did people make of that, if he has a a new job lined up it seems to answer my own question?

Fantastic post (even if it doesn't agree with my initial views) but that means her insecurities become Nicks crime and ruined reputation.

Someone kill me now. It's clear he has his favourites and it really shows in his comments. I got that impression during his time in EE and now in HO. It's so off putting and almost detrimental to the characters themselves.



Agreed but unfortunately I can see them concluding with Ellie being the victim of rape and Nick branded a rapist. I do really sympathise with Ellie and if her story results in other victims coming forward, that's something really positive. However I have no doubt that there are also young lads, like Nick, who will never escape the stigma of being called a rapist based on what they rightly or wrongly thought was mutual sex at the time. I think it'd important for this storyline to be educatational for both parties.

That conclusion would be perfect.

Holly reporting Mark "Dodger" Savage showed no real conclusion o her nasty lies either. Again the show is too biased at times towards women.

It took him a long time upon release to get a club. The first couple of clubs that tried received a huge public backlash, sponsors pulled out, famous fans spoke out etc and they pulled out. It took the retrial and 18 months to get a club

A couple of clubs tried to take him on when he was first released and had to pull out because of sponsors and backlash.

Then his appeal went in and I think he is now playing again.

Unfortunately the full contents of the trial were not released to the public and I think most people just saw the guilty verdict and judge on that.

The girl as I understand it has been hounded by those that think he is innocent. She has had her identity released on twitter a few times and had to move house a few times too from what's been in the papers.

Whether he did rape her or not it all comes down to consent and she must surely feel like he did which must be awful for her without all the extra bits.

Has anyone watched the documentary that Hollyoaks have done

I dont think that this storyline was intended to show bias against men. I don't think that NIck was demonised or portrayed as an evil rapist. I think it was intended to show that consent isn't as as straightforward as saying yes or no and that there is a grey area. I suppose they could have done it the other way round with Ellie having Sex with Nick when he was paralytic and him questioning whether he had given his consent. However these scenarios are a lot less common, so night not have resonated with viewers as much.

You're welcomes Grimes I can see where you're coming from as it seems the show have already decided the outcome to the story, deciding Nick is the one in the wrong when really they should explore the story from each person's point of view.


It is so wrong, but then again all soap EP's have this problem of overusing characters and even families, for EastEnders it was the Carters/Mitchells/Beales, for Corrie it's the Platts etc. A soap is an ensemble show, everyone should be given a chance to shine at some point or another, rather than the same old characters being used.

I can too. If Nick is going to suffer from boundary issues then I can see him having possibly a warped view of women. Like you say, if the story helps one person then it's worth it, but I wish that instead of them deciding the woman is the victim and the man is the one in the wrong that they wouldn't take sides and would just show the story from both Ellie and Nicks POV. Ellie has been on screen since November, we have gotten to know her and that she has trouble trusting men, whereas Nick came in only a few days prior to the episode being aired and we hardly know him at all. The story would be better if Nick had been introduced first and we knew a bit of his backstory as opposed to being a relative of Dirks. I also agree that there will be young lads like Nick being called rapists, to me Nick just seems like a normal young man who got drunk at Freshers with Ellie, he doesn't appear to be a rapist at all, yet if it comes out that he had sex with Ellie and she didn't give consent he will be branded a rapist by the other villagers which immediately ruins his character.

I hate Holly It very annoying how she got away with it that but I think it is more to do with HO dropping storylines than showing biased towards women as most peoples sympathies were with Dodger.

I wonder if Holly's false accusation of rape against Dodger will be referenced if she is going to be somehow involved with Nick or in this consent story.

It's an important issue to raise but it's disappointing that they're reusing this storyline again to do it. At least this time they're doing it with someone new rather than writing a popular character of 6 years with no inclination of being a rapist so far out of character.

There is no law which has a rape by a woman against a man because it only is written for a man against a woman. A woman can have a rape charge when she is an accomplice.

Rape and the defence has shifted so much. A man could put up a defence that a woman dressed provocatively but that has now gone. To my mind it has swung too far the other way. A woman has to take some responsibility for her own actions in these cases. I was in a similar situation and would never ruin a man's life through my own mistake. I said I wouldn't be doing this if I wasnt drunk and he stopped. If he hadnt I still wouldnt have had him arrested as I was in a foreign country and travelling home. He would have shown himself as morally bankrupt.

A woman is raped if she cannot give consent. By that I mean unconscious. If both parties are drunk then both are to blame. Many people regret actions they did while drunk. The courts would be completely inundated if everyone went to the police in these cases. Plus how can you prove beyond reasonable doubt you didn't give consent without any violence , video, witnesses or proof of a date rape drug?

I agree with most of this.

On one hand, I'm very wary of the attitude that women can't really be trusted to tell the truth about rape; they lie, they get hysterical, they regret it after the fact and decide that's rape and then some innocent man's life is ruined! On the other hand, the "boundary issues" thing makes Nick sound like a premeditated offender (or at least someone who deliberately ignores a lack of consent) and yeah, that's not addressing "grey areas" of consent, that's basically saying: Yes, he's a rapist and there was nothing ambiguous here after all.

As an aside, have we ever had a soap storyline where a woman sexually assaulted a man and it was actually treated as such (i.e. unlike Marnie getting too gropey, which no one addresses?) I can only think of the Suzanne and Damien storyline in Fair City where his understandable reluctance to have sex with her was one of the many things that set her off beating him up every episode; and on Corrie where Tracy tricked Roy into thinking he'd slept with her (and his subsequent reaction was as if he felt he'd been raped)


Didn't she suggest it was because they wanted the viewers to have no preconceptions about Nick? I.e. reach conclusions based on what had happened, rather than whether or not they thought Nick seemed like a rapist. Although it seems that that's what's happened anyway (people either going "he's a sleaze; of course he raped Ellie!" or "he's just a lad having fun; of course he didn't rape her!" based on their interpretation of his scenes so far)


There weren't many consequences for Holly though; no trouble with the police, no one really held it against her. Jason broke up with her for a short time but then they got back together like a week later anyway.

I remember Family Affairs having a storyline where Alex slept with the Costellos' lodger, then found out about something bad she'd done (that would have caused the Costellos to kick her out of the house), and she falsely accused him of rape so no one would believe him if he said anything. I can't remember how that ended, though ...


Already confirmed through interviews that Nick will be in a love triangle with Holly and Tegan, and date Holly at one point.

Given the talk of Nick having "boundary issues" with both women, it would be interesting if Holly tries to report him but isn't believed because of the Dodger situation. I wouldn't expect that to come up again since Dodger and Jason have both left now and Cindy, the only other person who knew about it, doesn't seem to care

Its more complicated than that. The girl in question was invited to the hotel room by Clayton MacDonald. Evans wasn't there at the time. MacDonald texted him to say he had 'got a girl'. Evans took a taxi to the hotel and blagged his way in. Friends of both men were filming the encounter through the window. Evans then snuck away. The girl woke up in a state the next day (she had wet herself) and the police were contacted because she thought her bag had been stolen. It was the police that brought the charges for rape, after speaking with her over the stolen bag report. MacDonald was found not guilty because she did accompany him to the hotel. The case has been through court and appeal, which was rejected. The case has been quashed pending a new trial, due to new evidence coming to light. However, it has been suggested that this 'new evidence' is statements from 14 people dredging up the girl's past sexual history and upbringing (which, if true, is pretty damn appalling, as the only thing that should really matter are the facts from that night, rather than whether she was pie eyed and swinging from the chandeliers with Tom, Dick and Harry every other night). Make of those facts what you will.

Just watching the episode. poor Ellie 😢😢

That was a brilliantly done episode, there is no shadow of doubt there, Ellie didn't consent and definitely wasn't in. Any fit state to.

That wasn't rape it was regret.
Women are not children and have as much responsibility as men. The sexism and hypocrisy in this episode was disgusting. First we get Ellie smacking Freddie and is praised for it, what if that was a man? Then she kisses nick, a complete stranger out the blue and is cheered on yet a man quickly groped cleos bum and were and were giving a lecture on how no man should ever touch a woman without consent. Ellie instigated everything, she was clearly out for revenge on Freddie and dragged nick back to her bed, got him even more drunk and completely led him on.

Of course it's horrible to have sex with a girl who is passed out or so drunk she doesn't know what she is doing but that is not how I seen this episode at all, Ellie seemed to be in control at all times. She regretted it the next morning because she still loves Freddie and just wanted to punish him.
Nick is NOT a rapist but of course he will now be demonised. Young lads watching this won't be thinking about consent they will be scared to even go near a girl Incase she changes her mind the next day and then presumably ruin his life.
I normally like Zoe listers episodes but that clearly was man hating.

Wow, what a post. Well said!

---
Out of interest, has soap ever had a female rapist? Can't think of any from the top of my head.

In Emmerdale, Ashley was drugged by Sally and was raped by her.

Wow your post is the exact opposite of my thoughts. It is also why this story needed doing. Just because you kiss a bloke that is not giving consent for him to do what he wants to you.

Nick in his own mind probably thinks the same as you but he is a rapist

I think it's too soon to call anyone a rapist.

That said, it's clear which angle the show is going for, judging by tonight's episode which is a real shame.

I'd have much preferred a more balanced perspective, seeing things from both sides rather than the villian/victim catergories that writers normally box thier characters in.

Was Ellie in control when she was practically passed out on the bed and mumbling incoherently? No? Then she didn't give her consent. If the episode stops 'young lads' from having sex with someone who is paralytic and who isn't capable of saying 'yes I want this' (not that Nick asked) then it's done its job.

Why is it too soon?

Well said Elly!

Because I feel we don't know enough. What we saw was two extreamly intoxicated people flirt, kiss and go to the bedroom. We then saw Ellie on the bed saying she was tired. We did not see her fall asleep before the scene was cut. Therefore it's too early to know for sure what exactly happened and most importantly how it happened. If it's later revealed that she was unconscious while he took her clothes of, you'll get no arguments from me that he is a rapist.

I understand what others are saying that she was too drunk to give consent (though you can say the same for Nick, prior memory or not) but it's not entirely uncommon for some girls, against there better judgement, have a dodgy drunken one night stand. i guess that's why consent is important and why this story is being told, but we live in a culture now where it didn't always go down like this, especially under the influence of alchole. I've heard the arguements here and elsewhere that Nick should not have slept with her given Ellie's state and that he wasnt as drunk because he had better memory of it all. I don't think that's very fair. He was clearly legless himself and judgement is often impaired while drinking so if Ellie was kissing him and lying on the bed with him, I can't badger him for thinking he was about to get lucky. Also, speaking from personal experience I've been drunk, paralytic, but remember everything. Call it a curse of you want. My friends hate me for it because I manage to recall minor details the next day but I still wake up with the worst hangover of my life. However other times, I wake up just fine and even manage to get to work for 6am. I guess what I'm trying to say, is both were fueled with alchole - not that it's any excuse if Nick did have sex with her while unconcious but I don't see it black and white, so soon into the story.

Like I said though, I think it will be revealed that Nick did rape her. I just hope it's educational on a wider scope. I really feel for Ellie and no one should be called a slapper for kissing or even sleeping with a stranger. However if Nick is branded a rapist for sleeping with a drunken girl, that doesn't sit well with me either. I hope I'm not offending anyone and I'm seriously not victim blaming. Like I said, if it's revealed that Nick slept with her while she was sleep, I won't dispute it. Though I think it's a shame if the show took that route because just as there are many young girls in Ellie's situation who need to come forward, I have no doubt there are young men who will never escape the stigmitisation of being branded a rapist, at the result of what they thought was drunken sex. It's a tricky one.