Hollyoaks has aired a surprise kiss for Ste Hay and Rex Gallagher.
Wednesday’s (October 23) episode followed up on Ste’s quest to find out whether his husband James Nightingale may still be alive after the car bomb explosion.
Ste recently overheard Rex seemingly speaking about James on the phone as if he were somehow alive, leading to him digging up his husband’s grave to discover it was empty.
He came up with a conspiracy theory that James was still alive and being held captive by Rex, so he decided to get close to Rex to find out the truth.
Viewers know that Ste appears to be misguided as the phone call he overheard was actually Rex speaking to Robbie Roscoe about their dodgy dealings.
Ste dropped a gift in at the Love Boat for Rex in the latest instalment, with Grace encouraging her sibling to give Ste a chance as a romantic partner.
“Ste’s going to move on from James eventually, and when he does, it looks like you’re going to be the first in line,” Grace declared.
The pair later met up in the village where Rex tried to put Ste off by saying they could never work as a couple. Ste begged Rex not to end things between them, admitting he’d been wrong about his theories about James.
A detective interrupted to question Rex about a stolen car operation, but Ste gave Rex a false alibi that they’d spent the night together.
“I’m head over heels about him and I know he feels the same way,” Ste told the detective.
Ste pulled Rex in for a kiss, and while Rex looked conflicted, he accepted the public display of affection. As Ste pulled away, it appeared Rex enjoyed the kiss.
Rex later dropped in to thank Ste for lying to the police on his behalf. He then confessed their kiss left him with real feelings for Ste.
“I have to say Ste, I really, really liked [the kiss],” Rex told him.
Rex went in for another kiss, but Ste stopped him to say they needed “to take things slowly”. The camera switched angles to reveal Ste was looking at a picture of James as he continued to mislead Rex.
“If you want something really bad, it’s worth playing the long game,” Ste said.
