Hollyoaks airs troubling scenes in new sex abuse storyline involving Frankie Osbourne and twin brother JJ

Trigger Warning: The following article references sexual abuse and sibling abuse.

Hollyoaks aired troubling scenes in first look episode aired on Wednesday night on C4 streaming platform. E4 will air the episode tonight (Thursday March 14). The soap is about to embark on a new storyline involving sex abuse with the characters Frankie Osbourne (Isabelle Smith) and twin brother JJ (Ryan Mulvey).

Spoilers Ahead* In the first-look episode Frankie Osbourne is hospitalised after being found unconscious following a day of binge drinking. Frankie recently accused her grandfather Jack Osbourne of improperly touching her. However, as she goes through the process of unravelling her memories, she realises it was actually her twin brother JJ who abused her years ago. 

This comes after viewers watched harrowing scenes from the previous episode which saw JJ, who was signed to the under 18s football team, waited until after everyone was asleep before entering his sister’s bedroom.

His sister Frankie promised to celebrate with him later, but JJ insisted on doing it now and “celebrating” how “they used to.” He then forced Frankie’s hands onto his hips before putting his own on her waist, but after hearing a noise outside her room, backed off. 

Hollyoaks recently announced they would be tackling the shocking storyline with the charity SARSAS advising them throughout the process. Speaking to the Metro Hollyoaks boss said: “Sibling sexual abuse is a subject matter that desperately merits attention and recognition.

“It’s one of the most infrequently disclosed forms of sexual abuse, yet the statistics are startling. Hollyoaks is shining a light on this issue for the first time in a long-term soap storyline because we need to get this conversation started amongst our multi-generational audience.

For more information and support on issues raised in this article, visit SARSAS or Sibling Sexual Abuse support.

Natalie Dixon is NationalWorld’s Lifestyle reporter. If you liked this article and want to read more about celebrities, fashion and beauty you can follow Natalie Dixon on X (Twitter) here.