Suicidal Ro’s desperate plea in Hollyoaks will break your heart but give you hope

Putting pen to paper for this special episode centering on Ro was an experience Emma Frankland relished – and she even stars in the scenes as the person on the opposite end of the helpline.

When Metro spoke to her, she detailed an episode which sees Ro at his ‘lowest point’ in a ‘perfect storm’.

‘It’s the culmination of lots of things,’ she told us. ‘I think it’s really clear that this isn’t one incident happens and then Ro’s running off and thinking about taking his own life, it’s the weight of everything.

‘It’s the weight of Arlo’s bullying, that’s been going on, at this point, for well over a year, right through that missing year. That episode at New Year where Arlo tells Ro directly, ‘Kill yourself,’ between then and this episode airing there’s been this constant, terrible drip of transphobic abuse from him.

‘Then you’ve got Ro feeling guilty for everything that’s happening around him. He’s feeling the guilt of Diane relapsing. Diane almost dies, the Dog is partially destroyed, they’re using their home.

‘Ro is taking a lot of the blame on to himself for these things. He sees his dad and Marie, they’re not together as they want to be. He feels that’s his fault because of what’s happening with Arlo.’

When asked to write the episode, Emma instantly knew that it would be something very different.

It’s been a special one to write in terms of what it’s brought up for me personally, but I think the process has been great. I had conversations with someone from Samaritans, I spoke to someone from Switchboard, I spoke to someone from Papyrus which is a call centre specifically for young people, a suicide prevention line.

‘Those conversations were incredible.’

She added: ‘I was really keen that the call Ro puts in is to an LGBT service so that when they speak to someone on the other end of the line they’re not having to also go through any layers of misunderstanding. They’ve not got this nervousness of, “How’s this person on the line going to feel about me being trans? Are they going to be for that or against it”’ I think it’s a really important service that’s out there that I think people, especially young people, don’t always know that we can access.

‘I think one of the things I learned from the people at the call centre is when you go to your friend and say, “I’m feeling this way,” your friend wants to solve everything and they want to make it right and make you feel better. But the people on these phone lines can actually just hear where you’re at they can listen. For Ro, actually having the chance to talk to someone.

‘The hope is that people see an example of what you can do when someone is in this state or you’re concerned for somebody’s wellbeing, you’re concerned they’re having thoughts of suicide.

‘I think knowing these services are there, knowing there’s broader services than just the Samaritans. There are services for young people, there are services for LGBT people. There are people who understand and know how to talk to people who are considering suicide, who are in this place.

‘I think that for a lot of people there are a lot of uncomfortable feelings around the idea of young trans people. It’s become so political and they’ve been made such a political pawn. There’s something about listening to young trans people themselves, hearing what they’re saying, hearing what they’re advocating for.

‘If you do listen to what young trans people are saying today they are saying that they’re feeling worried, they’re feeling under attack, they’re feeling like they need our support.

‘I think listening to Ro and Nina being able to articulate and speak for themselves, hopefully that teaches other people to say, “We don’t need to speak on behalf of trans kids, they’re not asking us to solve their problems. They’re asking us to listen to them.”‘

It’s so positive to see stories like Ro’s depicted on mainstream television. If people only learn about young trans people via certain right-wing media outlets or politicians, I wouldn’t blame them for being concerned or confused.

Commentary on gender identity is often incredibly negative, coloured by accusations of child abuse and exaggerated assertions about ‘desistance’ (the natural disappearance of gender dysphoria) and transition regret. 

The challenges Ro’s family is shown to have is a very natural thing to happen because coming to terms with your child being trans can be difficult for people to accept. Despite what some people might say on social media, it’s a long process that doesn’t happen overnight.

I grew up watching cartoons and films that constantly depicted Disney princesses finding Prince Charming – where no one was trans and there were no discussions about LGBTQ+ identities whatsoever. I still knew deep inside who I was, and was eventually able to figure it out – even in a rural farm in Iceland, where I’m from.

We all deserve to see positive stories of trans people being accepted and supported because – in my experience – that is much closer to reality than what certain anti-trans critics would like people to believe.

Films, TV shows and other pop culture references that are done with integrity and professionalism really have the opportunity to show people real human emotion and connection, which can change hearts and minds. It allows people to get real insight into the lives of transgender people.

At the end of the day, no one deserves to live their life in shame. We’ve seen the consequences that this has had on past generations and we cannot continue making the same mistakes. 

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