Finn O'Connor-Cedar Herald Index

Finn O'Connor is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Upon his introduction as part of the O'Connor family, the character was portrayed by Connor Wilkinson. The family were introduced during a "shake-up" of the show by new series producer Paul Marquess. Writers then placed Finn in an issue-led story exploring underage sex and teenage pregnancy with Amber Sharpe (Lydia Lloyd-Henry). The character was written out of the series in 2011.

The character's reintroduction was announced in March 2013, with the role recast to actor Keith Rice. Producers involved Finn in a male rape plot when he rapes schoolteacher John Paul McQueen (James Sutton). At the conclusion of the storyline in October 2014, Finn was written out of the series by being sent to prison. Rice reprised his role for guest stints on three occasions in 2015, 2017 and 2019. His 2019 return features Finn's release from prison.

Finn O'Connor

Development

Creation

In January 2010, Hollyoaks series producer Lucy Allan quit her role and was replaced by Paul Marquess, who immediately began a revamp of the series. Several characters were axed and new signings were revealed. The O'Connor family were the third new family to be announced, with former Brookside actress Alexandra Fletcher being cast as the stepmother of the Liverpudlian family. Marquess commented on the family: "We're very excited about the arrival of the O'Connors who burst onto screens in August with a very dramatic storyline. And I'm personally very excited to work with the fantastic Alex Fletcher again."

Finn O'Connor

Stephanie Davis who portrays Finn's sister Sinead O'Connor described her character and Finn's relationship, saying: "Well, obviously it's a brother and sister relationship so she is sometimes quite moody with him! But she loves him loads, and you'll see in one of the first scenes that Amber Sharpe is being a bit nasty to him, so Sinead goes over to have it out with her! But then they end up really good friends. After that, when Sinead's at home, she's nice to him — but when she's with her friends, she's a bit horrible to him!"

Finn O'Connor

Underage sex

After his arrival, it was announced that he and Amber Sharpe would be involved in an underage sex storyline. Hollyoaks, teaming up with Channel 4 Education's Battlefront, would explore sex involving two 12-year-olds, which would lead to Amber's pregnancy.

Lucy Willis, the executive producer for Battlefront explained, "Battlefront gives young people an opportunity to run campaigns about subjects they feel passionately about. Abbie Louise’s campaign Where Is The Love tackles an incredibly important issue which affects many young people today, who feel huge peer pressure to have sex before they are ready, often without the help and advice of adequate sex education at school."

Of the storyline, Marquess said: "Hollyoaks has long been credited for tackling difficult issues that affect young people in a sensitive and intelligent way. I am very proud that we are once again bringing to the forefront a subject for our young audience that many parents, politicians and schools struggle to address. The storyline very clearly communicates to the audience that Amber and Finn were not emotionally or physically ready to engage in any sexual activity. And make no mistake, there will be no fairytale ending for Amber; she is faced with the most difficult situation she could ever imagine. On 12 July 2011 Finn receives a text message of Amber with a photo attached of their baby girl, Bella. He shows Sinead the message and when she asks whether he wants to see the baby, Finn says no, and deletes the photo."

Departure (2011) In August 2011, Emma Smithwick told Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy that Finn had left to live with his father. She explained that the storylines had not required "really demanded that he should be there". But she remained open to the possibility of a future return for the character.