Olly Rhodes: Two soap opera murderers, one with a bare bum, two gay teens, one just coming out, and two cocks.

 

I decided to profile Olly Rhodes (no relation to Robert Rhodes) based on this photo on the teen idol site: black and white, grinning shyly at his boyfriend.  Olly is either gay in real life or is playing a gay character.

Olly grew up in Scarborough, a seaside town in Yorkshire, and graduated from the Pendleton School of Theater (like a secondary school in the U.S.),  in 2021.  

He moved directly into the role of Joseph Holmes on the soap Hollyoakes (2021-22).  His parents discover that he is having a secret romance with his foster sister, Vicky, so they send her away -- to Hollyoakes.  Joseph follows, to continue abusing Vicky and terrorize her good buddy, DeMarcus, presuming that they are secetly dating.

He shows his bare bum in his first on-screen role.

Later he murders police officer Saul Reeves (Chris Charles, left), and frames DeMarcus to get him out of the way.  But he kept Saul's ring, which leads to his arrest and confession.  He leaves the series crying in his jail cell.

After guest spots in The Last Kingdom and All Creatures Great and Small, Olly was cast in a recurring role on Waterloo Road (2024-25).  He plays headmaster's son Billy Savage, who is bedeviled by the bully and child abuse survivor Schuey  (Zak Sutcliffe, right).  Don't worry, Olly states that they became good friends off-camera.

After numerous incidents, Billy sets a wire trap across a road, so Schuey will be thrown off his bike and humiliated.  But he accidentally catches -- and kills -- Schuey's non-bullying sidekick Boz.  

Dad plants evidence in Schuey's locker so he'll be blamed for the murder, but eventually he and Billy are both arrested, and leave the series. 

Departures (2025) sounds like one of those "dying of AIDS" tearjerkers from the 1980s, but the title refers to the departures gate at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where Benji and Jake (Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, David Tag) meet and fall in love.  

Olly plays the teenage Benji.  The trailer shows him kissing his boyfriend, but it goes by too fast to get a screenshot.

More after the break

Ruben Reuter: the wacky drug dealer of "Pushers," "Lord of the Flies" Percy, Channel Four journalist, Short Guy with a d*ck

I was researching Ryan McParland, the Irish actor who plays the younger brother on How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, and I found a cast photo from Pushers (2025), a Channel 4 comedy. With two short guys.

Two short guys?  I'm definitely watching this show!

Turns out that Pushers is not available to stream in the U.S., but I watched some clips on Youtube.  

It stars Rosie Jones as Emily Dawkins, a woman with cerebral palsy who loses her benefits and needs some way to make money -- and impress her crush (a lady). Enter lovable doofus Ewen (Ryan McParland), who wants to "make money fast" in the amateur drug-dealing game.  He notices that Emily is invisible; people are disturbed by her disability, and pretend not to see her.  A perfect drug runner!

Emily suggests using her charity, Wee CU (providing accessible toilets), as a cover for the drug business.  And she recruits some other disabled people for the crew:

Hope (Libby Mae) handles the money-laundering, and pushes to expand the business into spice (an artificial cannabinoid).

Sam (Jon Furlong) became aggressive during her first drug sale, so she hired him as the muscle. He's garrulous and rather a tipster.

Harry (Ruben Reuter, hugging Ryan) wanted to make a documentary about the experience, but they reject the idea.  He handles the website and  the social media.

Trevor Dwyer-Lynch of Coronation Street (right) plays Masir, who provides the minivan.

Harry is an actor, dancer, and filmmaker (his dream is to direct Hollyoakes).  

In the first clip I watched, Harry and Ewan are hiding from a real drug lord - the kind that cuts your d*ck off -- and he suggests disguising themselves with drag.  He's an expert on hairstyling and makeup.   

Ewan: "F*cking hell, I look like me nan."

Harry: "No, you're sexy."

Ewan "Are you saying me nan ain't sexy?"

In another clip, the gang interviews for their jobs. Harry says that he's working at a pub with his Dad, but he wants to make enough money to ask his boyfriend Kevin to marry him.

A gay character!  They already had a lesbian character, so there's really no reason to make Harry gay -- unless the actor is gay in real life.

Ruben Reuter was born in 2000 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.  He has eight previous on-screen acting credits, most significantly the teen soap The Dumping Ground (2015-2024).  His character, Finn, was heterosexual, but he also may have a gay-subtext buddy-bond with Harry (Philip Graham Scott).

Left: A n*de Yorkshire guy

More after the break.  Caution: Explicit.