John Paul McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by James Sutton.

In 2008, Sutton quit the serial and his character received a "sunset ending" with Craig, which was promised for fans by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood.

Producers placed the character at the focus of a male rape story in 2014 when he is assaulted by a student, Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice).

The character has been involved in a failed marriage to Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson), being hospitalised due to a drink that was spiked with drugs, being involved in a train crash with his family, which ultimately killed his older sister Carmel McQueen (Gemma Merna), a drunken kiss with Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool) which jeopardised his career, an affair with cousin-in-law, Lockie Campbell (Nick Rhys) and striking up a friendship with transgender boss Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace), who later reveals that John Paul is her son.

John Paul then had a relationship with Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams) and a one-night stand with James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan).

Since his return, he was involved in a male domestic abuse storyline with George Kiss (Callum Kerr), and later deals with alcoholism, resulting in him crashing a minibus after suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

John Paul meets Craig Dean (Guy Burnet) after saving him from a beating by Sonny Valentine (Devon Anderson).

John Paul becomes close friends with Craig, Sarah Barnes, (Loui Batley), Hannah Ashworth (Emma Rigby), and Nancy Hayton (Jessica Fox).

His colleague Jen Gilmore (Amy Downham) gets fired when it emerges she was previously in a relationship with student Tilly Evans (Lucy Dixon).

Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice) and Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham) begin tormenting John Paul.

Finn is involved in a quad bike accident and John Paul contemplates letting him die before administering CPR.

He begins an affair with his cousin Porsche McQueen (Twinnie-Lee Moore)'s husband Lockie Campbell (Nick Rhys), but is shocked to learn that he is also sleeping with Mercedes.

Porsche soon discovers her husband's infidelity and she orders John Paul, Lockie and Mercedes to leave the family home.

John Paul decides to focus on his career working alongside new head teacher Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace).

Despite allowed him to come back anytime he wants, John Paul then tells him that he must start a new, fresh life away from the village and to be a good father to his daughter Bella.

John Paul McQueen was created in 2006; the backstory given to the character is that he grew up with five sisters (Jacqui, Mercedes, Tina, Carmel, and Michaela), his mum (Myra), and no father.

[5] The plot marks the second time Hollyoaks has tackled the issue, having previously explored it in 2000 when Luke Morgan (Gary Lucy) was raped.

[5][6] Duncan Craig, founder of the charity, was impressed by the work of the cast and crew across the story, which he called "a culturally important milestone".

[5] Finn, Robbie and other students begin bullying John Paul at school by insulting him and planning "malicious stunts in the classroom".

A press release from Hollyoaks explained that Finn is heterosexual, but attacks John Paul as "an act of aggression" and "an attempt to assert power over him".

He also mentioned that John Paul is changed as a person by the attack, commenting, "You see this outgoing, confident man be completely destroyed".

The Sun newspaper reported that John Paul was set to meet a grisly ending after driving off the edge of a cliff in his car in dramatic scenes airing later in the year.

[9] It was confirmed on 19 July 2019 that two former cast members would be returning on a permanent basis in the build-up to Hollyoaks' twenty-fifth anniversary during the following year.

[6] He explained that he wanted John Paul to become a "figurehead" at Hollyoaks High School and bring order to the McQueen household as he returns for "another groundbreaking chapter".

[17] John Paul is called by Sally and Edward Hutchinson (Joe McGann) who want his help in getting Finn to leave the village.

The job establishes the character as part of the show's year-long county lines drug trafficking storyline, which incorporates many families.

Sutton thought John Paul and Mercedes were "a lovely brother and sister combination" and observed how they were "each other's confidants" because they are similar ages and get on well.

Sutton explained that John Paul is confident as he prepares to speak with Breda, but when he actually sits opposite her, he becomes scared and realises that "he's in a very dangerous position".

"[1] Sutton's pairing with actor Guy Burnet, as John Paul and Craig, has also been successful, winning several LGBT awards.

They got their wish, and we like to think that Craig and John Paul are now living happily ever after together in Dublin..."[24] In September 2012, Inside Soap named John Paul and Craig's exit as their number 1 happy ending, "This tentative, tremulous, tortured romance is still regarded by Hollyoaks fans as one of the show's greatest-ever storylines – if not the greatest.