EastEnders Zack star fears history will repeat itself in HIV plot

James Farrar says ‘people refused to touch him’ over EastEnders HIV storyline

Zack Hudson (played by James Farrar) has been at the heart of some life-changing storylines over the past few months.

He and Whitney Dean’s (Shona McGarty) unborn baby Peach had Edwards’ Syndrome and the couple decided to not continue with the pregnancy, resulting in Whitney having to give birth to their stillborn daughter.

While this has been going on, Zack’s had his personal struggle as he discovered he was HIV positive after sharing needles years ago with a fellow gym-goer.

He eventually told Whitney, who quickly accepted his condition once the shock wore off and his sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and friend Martin Fowler (James Bye) were also very understanding.

Sadly, it appears that not everyone is going to have the same sympathetic reaction to the news.

Zack actor James Farrar appeared on The One Show to discuss his emotional storyline, teasing there was more drama to come as his neighbours find out.

He explained: “It’s so wonderful working with these two people and we do create a family and it’s lovely the family has supported Zack.

“However, Whitney who he, unfortunately, lost a child with, the stillborn story that was equally harrowing, and her reaction was a little different.

“Now, he was pleasantly surprised at Sharon and Martin.

“What you see on Monday night, however, is not the same and it wouldn’t be EastEnders without that sort of drama.

“But it’s then him, Zack, navigating his way around that, that people with HIV have to do every single day when they’re not accepted.”

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Life-long fans of EastEnders will remember Martin’s brother Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) also had HIV.

He received a very negative reaction at the time in Albert Square, resulting in his exit in the 1980s.

Mark died off-screen in 2004 because of the virus, leaving Martin devastated but upon hearing Zack’s diagnosis, has wanted to be more supportive.

Farrar has sadly teased that some of the residents of 2023 are still going to have a similar reaction to those during Mark’s initial HIV storyline decades ago.

Farrar continued: “It’s storytelling at its best because you’ll see the Walford residents on Monday have a similar reaction to what Peggy Mitchell, Barbara Windsor, had which was ‘you’re not coming in my pub, because I don’t want to catch this.’

“Within my storyline, it’s people saying you can catch it from toilet seats or shaking hands.

“I’ve had it with the public ‘Oh better not shake your hand’.

“Whether it’s tongue or cheek or not, it’s not acceptable and it’s still happening.”

EastEnders is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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