Hollyoaks delivers dramatic exit for trans character Kitty

Trans Hollyoaks character Kitty Draper has dramatically fled the village, marking the end of actress Iz Hesketh’s time in the soap.

In scenes shown on Channel 4 streaming on Monday night (27 August), and which air on E4 on Wednesday (28 August), Kitty made the heart-breaking decision to leave, in the face of threats from triple-murderer Dave Williams.

Hesketh only joined the soap at the beginning of the year but has made a pretty stellar impact, winning a best newcomer soap award and being part of one of the show’s ground-breaking trans storylines.

In March, Kitty befriended 12-year-old character Rose Lomax, played by Ava Webster, with the youngster confiding about his gender identity.

With Kitty’s support, and tales of how she overcame rejection from her own family, Rose decided to open up to his loved ones about being trans. He then decided to socially transition by cutting his hair, changing his pronouns to he/him and his name to Ro.

Despite being sensitively told, the storyline came during a wave of misinformation about gender-affirming care for trans youth, and was the subject of hundreds of complaints to watchdog Ofcom.

Kitty’s support for Ro was far from her only storyline, though. In fact, during her short in the village, she was entangled in an identity swap drama, a kidnapping at the hands of her transphobic father Declan Hawthorne – which ultimately led to his death – and the revelation that she had fathered Lizzie Chen-Williams’ baby before she transitioned.

It’s been a rollercoaster for Kitty, to say the least, and all the dramas up to this point ultimately led to her exit.

After being kidnapped, Kitty was rescued by Beau Ramsey, who was later jailed for murdering kidnapper Declan.

As guilt consumed Kitty, she began a confession spree, first admitting to Dave that Lizzie’s child, who was put up for adoption, was hers. 

A furious Dave blamed Kitty for Lizzie’s death and ultimately told her that her punishment should be to leave the village. And so she did, telling Tony and Diane Hutchinson that she would be going immediately.

Tony, worried for her safety, asked if she was in trouble. But Kitty was coy, telling them: “No more than usual. It’s just cleaner like this. I don’t want anyone else getting in trouble because of me.”

After initially not believing she had time to even say goodbye to Ro, Kitty eventually did get to say an emotional farewell to the youngster.

A distraught Ro said he was worried people wouldn’t understand him without Kitty around to set him on the right path.

“Then you’ll tell them,” she responded, jumping in a taxi. “Because you know exactly who you are, right? And you know you better than anyone. I’ll miss you, kid.”

During her time in Hollyoaks, Hesketh bagged a role in Disney+ adventure series Renegade Nell. Earlier this month she took to Instagram to declare that she was “unemployed” and looking for her next job.

Hollyoaks streams every day online at Channel 4, with episodes airing Monday-Friday on E4 from 7pm.

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