Gaz Bennett
Encyclopedia
Gary "Gaz" Bennett is a fictional character
from the long-running Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, played by Joel Goonan
. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 25 November 2008. Goonan took a break from filming during 2010, and returned on-screen on 19 January 2011. Goonan announced his permanent departure from Hollyoaks in October 2011. He made his final appearance on 11 November 2011.
Gaz is introduced as the leader of a racist
hoodie
gang. Gaz has already shown his hatred of black, Asian and bisexual characters including Ash Roy (Junade Khan
), Anita Roy
(Saira Choudhry
), Ravi Roy
(Stephen Uppal
), Lauren Valentine
(Dominique Jackson
) and Calvin Valentine
(Ricky Whittle
). Despite his "hard" personality, Gaz is seen to be vulnerable when Zak Ramsey
(Kent Riley
) beats him up while he was on his own. Gaz got his comeuppance in the media dubbed 'Super September', in which Gaz was attacked and left in a coma.
Viewers of Hollyoaks asked Joel Goonan on the official website why he thinks Gaz is bullying Anita. Goonan replied: "I don't actually know! I don't think Gaz has actually got that many friends — he's got people who follow him, but he hasn't got many friends. He's quite disturbed really. I don't think it's necessarily to do with Anita being Asian or anything like that, I think it's just the fact that she's really vulnerable and Gaz knows he can take advantage of her at any time. It's nothing to do with her skin colour, its about Gaz seeing her as a really weak person. He knows he can bully her and she'll be too scared to do anything back to him." Goonan was also asked if he found portraying an "evil" character difficult. Replying to this, he said: "Not really. Well I wasn't like that in school or anything, I've never been a bully. But I've grown up in quite a rough part of Manchester so I've been surrounded by people like that since I've been in school. So it was quite easy to portray that type of character because I've been around those kind of people for years. I've sort of found myself mimicking people I used to know."
In October 2011, Goonan announced that he had finished filming with the serial.
Carmel McQueen
(Gemma Merna
) opens a police stall. Gaz and his gang turn up a heater, causing Carmel to sweat and take her jacket off. They then give her a lollipop, which she begins to eat, before taking a picture on a mobile phone of her. This phone is then confiscated by Russ Owen
(Stuart Manning
). The gang later spray-paint a picture of Carmel on the skate ramps, but are interrupted by Calvin, who Gaz is then racist towards. Gaz and his gang steal Relish's week's takings from Gilly Roach
(Anthony Quinlan
), also beating him up. Zak attacks Gaz, who is scared without his gang. Gilly refuses to acknowledge that it was Gaz who stole the takings. Feeling embarrassed, Gilly tells Ash and Calvin that the man who mugged him was 'huge'. Zak confronts Gaz, but loses his temper and punches him. Zak is cautioned by the police. Gaz and his gang then beat up Gilly, who does not file a complaint. Gaz starts harassing Theresa McQueen
(Jorgie Porter
), and is warned off by Russ, Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper
) and Tony Hutchinson
(Nick Pickard
).
Gaz tempts former drug-addict Sasha Valentine
(Nathalie Emmanuel
) into smoking cannabis. However, she refuses. Gaz yet again harasses Zak and Ash, after Zak throws his football away. His football apparently bursts, caused by Zak, Gaz asks for food from Relish as compensation. Zak puts laxatives in curry sauce and gives it to him, before watching as Gaz has an accident. It is later discovered by Ash and Zak that Gaz used his faeces to paint "Paki Lover" on the front of Relish. The following day, after being threatened by Ash, Gaz decides to make peace. Zak tells him to leave, not accepting his apology. Gaz then begins beating himself up, making it look like it is Zak and Ash. The pair are then arrested for assault. As revenge on Ash, Gaz sets fire to Relish. He is then expelled from school after his racist bullying of Anita. Gaz is not seen again until April, when he apologises to Anita, telling her he has changed. He then helps Anita after she is threatened by her enemy, Lauren. After convincing her to meet him, Gaz's gang appear and hold Anita down as Gaz pours white paint over her, recording it on a mobile phone in the process. The next day, Anita tells her older brothers Ash and Ravi, they trick Gaz before beating him up. Gaz returns to school drunk to see Anita. He locks his former teacher Nancy Hayton
(Jessica Fox
) in a classroom and tries to assault her. However, Russ saves her.
Gaz mugs Mercedes McQueen
(Jennifer Metcalfe
) after being kicked out of his home. When Ste Hay
(Kieron Richardson
) finds this out, he threatens him because Mercedes was looking after his son Lucas Hay, who could have been injured. He then begins sleeping in the school, where Barry Newton (Nico Mirallegro
), Anita and Lauren find him. After filming Newt and Anita kissing, Gaz follows them to a secluded cottage, where he pressures Anita into sex. Anita spikes his drink with peanuts, due to his allergy. Newt attacks him as Anita escapes. Gaz follows, chasing Anita. Gaz decides to rape Anita whilst filming it on his mobile. Anita grabs a rock and hits Gaz over the head. Gaz then falls into a coma and later pretends to suffer from amnesia as to what had happened. After being released from hospital, Gaz asks Anita and Ricky Campbell
(Ashley Margolis
) if they know who attacked him. Anita tells him she would not help him and that she does not know who it was. The group consisting of Anita, Newt, Ricky, Lauren and Theresa stop being friends after the attack. Lauren pretends to befriend Gaz and pours tomato soup over him, as revenge for his racist attack on Anita. In the following weeks Gaz and Lauren become closer and begin a relationship however Gaz uses her to humiliate Anita.
Gaz's relationship develops even further and they both plan to steal Spencer Gray's (Darren John Langford
) inheritance. However their plan starts to scupper when as Gaz watches Lauren lie to Spencer that she is pregnant with his child, Spencer panics and starts telling Sasha about the situation. Everyone is starting to believe that Gaz is the father, unaware that Lauren had made the whole thing up.
Gaz and Lauren intended to secretly leave Hollyoaks on Calvin and Carmel's wedding day, however this was halted when Calvin is shot dead by Theresa, who is pregnant with Calvin's child. However Lauren changes her mind after she lied to Sasha and Leo Valentine
(Brian Bovell
) that she had a miscarriage and runs away with Gaz, however when they realise that they cannot cope without any money, they return to the village to hatch another plan, that Gaz should leave on his own and return to Lauren with some money. However when they are in an alleyway near The Loft, they are ambushed by the police, who believed that Gaz is Calvin's murderer. Lauren and Gaz later break up when she reconciles with Anita. Anita then accuses him of spraying racist graffiti at Relish. As revenge he was intentionally wrongly advised by teacher Des Townsend (Kris Deedigan
) to confront Anita. Gaz follows Des' advice and takes Theresa's mobile phone and texts Anita to meet in the woods. She agrees to meet but he holds her hostage. However when Gaz looks into his bag, he finds a gun that Anita had found earlier, planted by Jacqui. As he stood in shock, holding the gun; the police arrive and they arrest him. He is then subsequently charged with the murder of Calvin as the gun he was holding was actually used to shoot Calvin. He is also charged with holding the gun to harm Anita. He was transferred to prison. Michaela McQueen
(Hollie-Jay Bowes
) then interviewed him for an article about Des being a racist. During this scene, Michaela told Gaz about Lauren falling down the stairs at The Loft and having a blood clot. He got angry and thought she was making it up. His final scene was when Lauren visited him in prison. He assumed that she supported him and that she still loved him, but when Lauren gets strangely quiet he soon realised that she doesn't. He got angry and frustrated and she seemed careless. She walked away and leaves him, leading prison guards to restrain him when he was about to get out of control. This made him shout across the room to Lauren saying that he doesn't need her help and support anyway, leaving him slightly heartbroken.
Gaz returns in 2011 and threatens Anita before she leaves Hollyoaks. He later gets a job in The Dog in the Pond
pub by owner Heidi Costello
and later finds her upset where they end up kissing. Later that month, while helping Rae take her belongings in to the flat he finds a drug stash which is Doug Carter
's and later becomes involved with drug dealing by working for Brendan Brady
. In October 2011, he began a relationship with Sinead O'Connor
(Stephanie Davis
), he later attempts to kiss Maddie Morrison (Scarlett Bowman), so she warns Sinead about Gaz but Sinead doesn't believe her and they both leave after getting a job offer. Sinead's ex boyfriend Bart McQueen
(Jonny Clarke
) tracks them both down and declares his love for Sinead at a gig. Bart and Sinead later kiss and Gaz looks on. This is Gaz's last appearance as he goes travelling with the band alone.
of The Guardian
joked about one of Gaz's light hearted storylines which featured after tragic storylines stating: "cruel, skint January has been brightened with a lawnmower race featuring Gaz and Lauren astride killer-bladed mowers, larking about like people who'd clearly forgotten they were stalked habitually by bad luck and tragedy."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the long-running Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
, played by Joel Goonan
Joel Goonan
Joel Benjamin Goonan is an English actor best known for his role as the villainous Garry "Gaz" Bennett in Hollyoaks....
. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 25 November 2008. Goonan took a break from filming during 2010, and returned on-screen on 19 January 2011. Goonan announced his permanent departure from Hollyoaks in October 2011. He made his final appearance on 11 November 2011.
Character development
Goonan took a short break from filming during 2010, returning to filming in winter. A spokesperson described the scenes stating: "Much to Anita's concern, Gaz will be making a shocking return to the village in the weeks ahead." His return scenes aired in January 2011.Gaz is introduced as the leader of a racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
hoodie
Hoodie
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...
gang. Gaz has already shown his hatred of black, Asian and bisexual characters including Ash Roy (Junade Khan
Junade Khan
Junade Khan is an English television actor best known for playing Ash Roy in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Khan left Hollyoaks in September 2008 in a big storyline involving all of his onscreen family....
), Anita Roy
Anita Roy
Anita Roy is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Saira Choudhry. Choudhry was cast in 2008 as part of the new Roy family and arrived in November and stayed in the serial for 2 years before she left Hollyoaks on 20 January 2011...
(Saira Choudhry
Saira Choudhry
Saira Choudhry is an English actress, most notable for her role as Anita Roy in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks .-Television:-External links:...
), Ravi Roy
Ravi Roy
Ravi Roy is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephen Uppal. He first appeared in an episode airing on 20 May 2008, introduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood. Since then he has been central to a bisexuality storyline and living with an aneurysm...
(Stephen Uppal
Stephen Uppal
Stephen Uppal is an English actor of Asian descent from Ormesby in Middlesbrough. He is known for playing Ravi Roy in the long-running British soap Hollyoaks, the 2009 film Freight, and also for playing characters in The History Boys at Wyndham's Theatre.Uppal gained a qualification in English at...
), Lauren Valentine
Lauren Valentine
Lauren Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Dominique Jackson. First appearing in 2007, Lauren was written out of the show in 2010 along with the rest of the Valentine family as part of series producer Paul Marquess's overhaul of the...
(Dominique Jackson
Dominique Jackson
Dominique Hannah Jackson is a British actress from Oldham, Greater Manchester, who has starred in various TV roles. She is best known for her roles as Becky in the Children's TV series Becky and Barnaby Bear and Lauren Valentine on Channel 4 soap, Hollyoaks...
) and Calvin Valentine
Calvin Valentine
Calvin Valentine is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ricky Whittle. He arrived in July 2006 as a police officer with his mother and younger siblings and made his final appearance on 21 May 2010 after he was murdered by Theresa McQueen. Whittle...
(Ricky Whittle
Ricky Whittle
Ricky Whittle is a British actor from Oldham, Greater Manchester.-Biography:The son of former Royal Air Force serviceman Harry Whittle, Whittle grew up travelling with his father's career around the world, with a home base at Burghfield Common near Reading, Berkshire.A keen sportsman, Whittle...
). Despite his "hard" personality, Gaz is seen to be vulnerable when Zak Ramsey
Zak Ramsey
Zak Timothy Ramsey is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kent Riley. Zak first appeared in 2004, when he was credited as 'Zak Barnes'. After only four months, Riley was dropped from the programme. The character received a revival 18 months later...
(Kent Riley
Kent Riley
Kentigan Peter "Kent" Riley is an English actor, born in Fazakerley, Liverpool, & brought up in Lydiate, where he attended St Gregory's Junior School, where he caught the bug for acting, starring in many of the schools performing arts projects...
) beats him up while he was on his own. Gaz got his comeuppance in the media dubbed 'Super September', in which Gaz was attacked and left in a coma.
Viewers of Hollyoaks asked Joel Goonan on the official website why he thinks Gaz is bullying Anita. Goonan replied: "I don't actually know! I don't think Gaz has actually got that many friends — he's got people who follow him, but he hasn't got many friends. He's quite disturbed really. I don't think it's necessarily to do with Anita being Asian or anything like that, I think it's just the fact that she's really vulnerable and Gaz knows he can take advantage of her at any time. It's nothing to do with her skin colour, its about Gaz seeing her as a really weak person. He knows he can bully her and she'll be too scared to do anything back to him." Goonan was also asked if he found portraying an "evil" character difficult. Replying to this, he said: "Not really. Well I wasn't like that in school or anything, I've never been a bully. But I've grown up in quite a rough part of Manchester so I've been surrounded by people like that since I've been in school. So it was quite easy to portray that type of character because I've been around those kind of people for years. I've sort of found myself mimicking people I used to know."
In October 2011, Goonan announced that he had finished filming with the serial.
Storylines
Gaz first appears as a student at Hollyoaks High School, and he begins work experience at take-away Relish. His work experience turns out bad as he turns up late, does no work and is racist towards Anita, Lauren, Calvin and Ash, which ends up with him being sacked by Ash. At school, local Police Community Support OfficerPolice community support officer
A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...
Carmel McQueen
Carmel McQueen
Carmel Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gemma Merna. She debuted on-screen during episodes airing in August 2006 and was introduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of the McQueen family...
(Gemma Merna
Gemma Merna
Gemma Ann Merna is an English actress. She is known for playing Carmel Valentine in Hollyoaks.-Awards:...
) opens a police stall. Gaz and his gang turn up a heater, causing Carmel to sweat and take her jacket off. They then give her a lollipop, which she begins to eat, before taking a picture on a mobile phone of her. This phone is then confiscated by Russ Owen
Russ Owen
Russell Charles "Russ" Owen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stuart Manning. He first appeared in August 2004 with his on-screen family and has been involved in storylines including being diagnosed with testicular cancer and kidnapping his son. It...
(Stuart Manning
Stuart Manning
Stuart Bernard Manning is an English actor and model.He is best known for the role of Russ Owen in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, which he played from 2004 until 2009....
). The gang later spray-paint a picture of Carmel on the skate ramps, but are interrupted by Calvin, who Gaz is then racist towards. Gaz and his gang steal Relish's week's takings from Gilly Roach
Gilly Roach
Gilbert "Gilly" Roach is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Anthony Quinlan. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 4 October 2005. Gilly was created in 2005 by executive producer David Hanson. Gilly has often been portrayed as a...
(Anthony Quinlan
Anthony Quinlan
Anthony Quinlan is an English actor, known for his role as Gilly Roach in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-References:Quinlan was nominated for sexiest male at the 2010 Inside Soap Awards.[29] He was also nominated in the category of "Best Serial Drama Performance" at the 2011 National...
), also beating him up. Zak attacks Gaz, who is scared without his gang. Gilly refuses to acknowledge that it was Gaz who stole the takings. Feeling embarrassed, Gilly tells Ash and Calvin that the man who mugged him was 'huge'. Zak confronts Gaz, but loses his temper and punches him. Zak is cautioned by the police. Gaz and his gang then beat up Gilly, who does not file a complaint. Gaz starts harassing Theresa McQueen
Theresa McQueen
Theresa McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jorgie Porter. She made her first appearance in November 2008. The character was introduced as an extension of already established McQueen family...
(Jorgie Porter
Jorgie Porter
Jorgina Alexandra "Jorgie" Porter, is an English actress, notable for her role as Theresa McQueen in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks...
), and is warned off by Russ, Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper
Claire Cooper
Claire Elizabeth Cooper is an English actress who currently plays Jacqui McQueen in British Channel 4 series Hollyoaks...
) and Tony Hutchinson
Tony Hutchinson
Anthony "Tony" Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nick Pickard. Tony first appeared on-screen on 23 October 1995, the first episode of the series, and is the only original character still on the show to the present day...
(Nick Pickard
Nick Pickard
Nicholas "Nick" Pickard is an English actor, best known for his role as Tony Hutchinson on soap opera Hollyoaks.He is currently the longest serving cast member and appeared in the very first episode in 1995...
).
Gaz tempts former drug-addict Sasha Valentine
Sasha Valentine
Sasha Valentine is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nathalie Emmanuel. The character first appeared on-screen on 17 July 2006 as part of the newly introduced Valentine family...
(Nathalie Emmanuel
Nathalie Emmanuel
Nathalie Joanne Emmanuel is a British actress best known for her role in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks as Sasha Valentine, which she played from 2006 to 2010....
) into smoking cannabis. However, she refuses. Gaz yet again harasses Zak and Ash, after Zak throws his football away. His football apparently bursts, caused by Zak, Gaz asks for food from Relish as compensation. Zak puts laxatives in curry sauce and gives it to him, before watching as Gaz has an accident. It is later discovered by Ash and Zak that Gaz used his faeces to paint "Paki Lover" on the front of Relish. The following day, after being threatened by Ash, Gaz decides to make peace. Zak tells him to leave, not accepting his apology. Gaz then begins beating himself up, making it look like it is Zak and Ash. The pair are then arrested for assault. As revenge on Ash, Gaz sets fire to Relish. He is then expelled from school after his racist bullying of Anita. Gaz is not seen again until April, when he apologises to Anita, telling her he has changed. He then helps Anita after she is threatened by her enemy, Lauren. After convincing her to meet him, Gaz's gang appear and hold Anita down as Gaz pours white paint over her, recording it on a mobile phone in the process. The next day, Anita tells her older brothers Ash and Ravi, they trick Gaz before beating him up. Gaz returns to school drunk to see Anita. He locks his former teacher Nancy Hayton
Nancy Hayton
Nancy Anne Hayton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jessica Fox. The character first appeared on 6 July 2005. Since the character's inception she has been involved in many notable storylines such as a three-way open relationship, drug taking,...
(Jessica Fox
Jessica Fox
Jessica Fox is an English actress. She is most notable for playing young witch Enid Nightshade in the CITV show The Worst Witch, whom she began playing in the late 1990s...
) in a classroom and tries to assault her. However, Russ saves her.
Gaz mugs Mercedes McQueen
Mercedes McQueen
Mercedes Fisher is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jennifer Metcalfe. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 19 June 2006 as the first character to be introduced to the serial by series producer, Bryan Kirkwood...
(Jennifer Metcalfe
Jennifer Metcalfe
Jennifer Joanne Metcalfe is an English actress and model. She joined the cast of soap opera Hollyoaks in June 2006, playing feisty Mercedes McQueen.-Personal life:...
) after being kicked out of his home. When Ste Hay
Ste Hay
Stephen "Ste" Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes...
(Kieron Richardson
Kieron Richardson
Kieron Mark Richardson is an English actor best known for playing the role of Ste Hay in Hollyoaks.-Career:...
) finds this out, he threatens him because Mercedes was looking after his son Lucas Hay, who could have been injured. He then begins sleeping in the school, where Barry Newton (Nico Mirallegro
Nico Mirallegro
Nico Cristian Mirallegro is a British actor who played the role of Barry "Newt" Newton in the British soap opera Hollyoaks between 22 October 2007 and 25 June 2010....
), Anita and Lauren find him. After filming Newt and Anita kissing, Gaz follows them to a secluded cottage, where he pressures Anita into sex. Anita spikes his drink with peanuts, due to his allergy. Newt attacks him as Anita escapes. Gaz follows, chasing Anita. Gaz decides to rape Anita whilst filming it on his mobile. Anita grabs a rock and hits Gaz over the head. Gaz then falls into a coma and later pretends to suffer from amnesia as to what had happened. After being released from hospital, Gaz asks Anita and Ricky Campbell
Ricky Campbell
Richard "Ricky" Campbell is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ashley Margolis. He made his first on-screen appearance on 16 June 2009. Ricky was created by executive producer Lucy Allan. Margolis took a period of leave in 2010 to complete his real life...
(Ashley Margolis
Ashley Margolis
Ashley Howard Margolis is an English actor.-Career:He is best known for playing Ricky Campbell in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. He has played the role of Ricky since June 2009. His main storyline revolved around his father Martin Campbell having Multiple Sclerosis...
) if they know who attacked him. Anita tells him she would not help him and that she does not know who it was. The group consisting of Anita, Newt, Ricky, Lauren and Theresa stop being friends after the attack. Lauren pretends to befriend Gaz and pours tomato soup over him, as revenge for his racist attack on Anita. In the following weeks Gaz and Lauren become closer and begin a relationship however Gaz uses her to humiliate Anita.
Gaz's relationship develops even further and they both plan to steal Spencer Gray's (Darren John Langford
Darren John Langford
Darren John Langford is a British actor who is best notable for playing the mentally disabled character Spencer Gray in the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Apart from Hollyoaks, Langford has not had any major television roles...
) inheritance. However their plan starts to scupper when as Gaz watches Lauren lie to Spencer that she is pregnant with his child, Spencer panics and starts telling Sasha about the situation. Everyone is starting to believe that Gaz is the father, unaware that Lauren had made the whole thing up.
Gaz and Lauren intended to secretly leave Hollyoaks on Calvin and Carmel's wedding day, however this was halted when Calvin is shot dead by Theresa, who is pregnant with Calvin's child. However Lauren changes her mind after she lied to Sasha and Leo Valentine
Leo Valentine
Leo Valentine is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Brian Bovell. Despite being on the show for over three years, Leo has not been involved in any major storylines, however does serve as a comedic character. In March 2010, it was announced that...
(Brian Bovell
Brian Bovell
Brian Bovell is an English actor.He has appeared regularly on television since 1980, as well as featuring in the cult film Babylon released the same year. He has also appeared in the play Where There Is Darkness in 1981, winning the 1982 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting...
) that she had a miscarriage and runs away with Gaz, however when they realise that they cannot cope without any money, they return to the village to hatch another plan, that Gaz should leave on his own and return to Lauren with some money. However when they are in an alleyway near The Loft, they are ambushed by the police, who believed that Gaz is Calvin's murderer. Lauren and Gaz later break up when she reconciles with Anita. Anita then accuses him of spraying racist graffiti at Relish. As revenge he was intentionally wrongly advised by teacher Des Townsend (Kris Deedigan
Kris Deedigan
Kris Deedigan is a British actor best known for his portrayal of Des Townsend in the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...
) to confront Anita. Gaz follows Des' advice and takes Theresa's mobile phone and texts Anita to meet in the woods. She agrees to meet but he holds her hostage. However when Gaz looks into his bag, he finds a gun that Anita had found earlier, planted by Jacqui. As he stood in shock, holding the gun; the police arrive and they arrest him. He is then subsequently charged with the murder of Calvin as the gun he was holding was actually used to shoot Calvin. He is also charged with holding the gun to harm Anita. He was transferred to prison. Michaela McQueen
Michaela McQueen
Michaela McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Hollie-Jay Bowes. Michaela was the first of the McQueen family to be seen on-screen in 2006, when she was credited as Michaela Jones. On 8 June 2010, Hollie-Jay Bowes announced that she had quit...
(Hollie-Jay Bowes
Hollie-Jay Bowes
Hollie-Jay Bowes is an English actress best known for her role as Michaela McQueen in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Her parents changed her name from Billie Jean to Hollie Jean as her father thought she would get bullied at school and be called 'Billie Bowes', and at 13, she changed her name to...
) then interviewed him for an article about Des being a racist. During this scene, Michaela told Gaz about Lauren falling down the stairs at The Loft and having a blood clot. He got angry and thought she was making it up. His final scene was when Lauren visited him in prison. He assumed that she supported him and that she still loved him, but when Lauren gets strangely quiet he soon realised that she doesn't. He got angry and frustrated and she seemed careless. She walked away and leaves him, leading prison guards to restrain him when he was about to get out of control. This made him shout across the room to Lauren saying that he doesn't need her help and support anyway, leaving him slightly heartbroken.
Gaz returns in 2011 and threatens Anita before she leaves Hollyoaks. He later gets a job in The Dog in the Pond
The Dog in the Pond
The Dog in the Pond is a fictional public house in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. It has been at the centre of the show's setting since it began in 1995. The pub was burnt down in episodes airing in September 2006 during the 'Fire at The Dog', which killed five regular characters...
pub by owner Heidi Costello
Heidi Costello
Heidi Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kim Tiddy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 2010 and made her final appearance in the series on 1 November 2011, after the character was accidentally murdered by her father, Silas...
and later finds her upset where they end up kissing. Later that month, while helping Rae take her belongings in to the flat he finds a drug stash which is Doug Carter
Doug Carter
Doug Carter is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by PJ Brennan. He initially appeared in the programme's online spin-off series Hollyoaks: Freshers, before debuting in the main series in the episode airing 13 September 2010. He left on 17 September before returning...
's and later becomes involved with drug dealing by working for Brendan Brady
Brendan Brady
Brendan Brady is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Emmett J. Scanlan. The character was introduced in 2010 by series producer Paul Marquess during part of the show's overhaul the character has become incredibly popular and liked.He is the older half...
. In October 2011, he began a relationship with Sinead O'Connor
Sinead O'Connor (Hollyoaks)
Sinead O'Connor is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephanie Davis. The character first appeared on 1 September 2010 as a member of the new O'Connor family, introduced as part of the show's overhaul by series producer Paul Marquess.-Casting:Details...
(Stephanie Davis
Stephanie Davis
Stephanie Davis is a Montana-based singer-songwriter, poet, and musician. Her songs have been recorded by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Joey and Rory, and others. She is a frequent performer on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and at cowboy poetry gatherings and...
), he later attempts to kiss Maddie Morrison (Scarlett Bowman), so she warns Sinead about Gaz but Sinead doesn't believe her and they both leave after getting a job offer. Sinead's ex boyfriend Bart McQueen
Bart McQueen
Bartholomew "Bart" McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jonny Clarke. He first appeared onscreen at his stepmother's funeral in August 2010, introduced by producer Paul Marquess as a member of the McQueen family...
(Jonny Clarke
Jonny Clarke
Jonny Clarke, is an English actor. He is best known for playing the character of Bart McQueen in the channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...
) tracks them both down and declares his love for Sinead at a gig. Bart and Sinead later kiss and Gaz looks on. This is Gaz's last appearance as he goes travelling with the band alone.
Reception
Grace DentGrace Dent
Grace Dent is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster. Dent writes mainly for The Guardian, where she has a weekly column on television, 'Grace Dent's TV-OD'. She also writes for magazines such as Tatler and Marie Claire. She writes a restaurant review column for the London Evening...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
joked about one of Gaz's light hearted storylines which featured after tragic storylines stating: "cruel, skint January has been brightened with a lawnmower race featuring Gaz and Lauren astride killer-bladed mowers, larking about like people who'd clearly forgotten they were stalked habitually by bad luck and tragedy."
External links
- Character profile on the E4 website