Hollyoaks has a new bad guy in town – Pete Buchanan, played by Kai Owen.

The actor has taken on the hard-hitting storyline of Pete coming back into ex Reenie McQueen’s (Zoe Lucker) life after having abused her daughter Porsche (Twinnie-Lee Moore) when she was just 15 – something which she has bravely revealed, but which he is denying.

Kai told Digital Spy: “I knew the nature of the storyline from the start, because my agent called me up to say that a meeting had come up for Hollyoaks with a hard-hitting role. My agent gave me a breakdown of what would be happening and I instantly thought that I wanted to tell this story.

Hollyoaks
Kai Owen plays Pete Buchanan (Lime Pictures)

“I could see that it’s such an important story to tell and I feel very passionate about it. It’s a great chance to raise awareness, so from the start I thought that it would be a great privilege to go in, meet the producers and hopefully get the part.

“I feel quite privileged to be part of it – it’s such a strong storyline with a great cast involved in it. I feel very lucky.”

He went on that he thought the Channel 4 soap’s younger audience were exactly who needed to be targeted with this sort of issue.

Hollyoaks
Kai Owen as Pete in Hollyoaks (Lime Pictures)

Kai said: “It’s such an important story for Hollyoaks to tell due to the demographic that watch the show. The statistics show that somebody watching the show will probably be going through the same thing that the McQueen girls are. There will also be a guy out there like Pete watching it.

“If we can get anyone out there to speak out and save them from an absolute hell, then we’ve done our job. It’s so important to get this story right and to tell it well – which we are doing.

“I hope we can help by encouraging people in this situation to talk to a friend and get these lowlifes accused and convicted.”