Hollyoaks spoilers: DESPERATE! Ste Hay does all he can to save his marriage!

Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) is alarmed when he turns up to see his estranged husband, James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan) dosing up with painkillers in tonight’s Hollyoaks on at 7pm (See our TV Guide f or full listings).

An upset Ste begs James to give him another chance and save their marriage and pleads with James to just spend the day with him so they can talk.

His long-suffering hubby reluctantly agrees and the two of them later meet up at The Dog.

Ste arrives wearing his wedding outfit in the hope that memories of their special day will play to James’s emotions.

Is James going to soften and give Ste another chance?

And what BIG SECRET is James currently keeping from Ste?

Elsewhere, John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) comes looking for Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin) after becoming increasingly worried about her.

Cleo’s controlling and abusive boyfriend, Abe Fielding (Tyler Conti) covers up to John Paul as does Cleo, insisting to him that everything is fine and that their recent relationship woes are all sorted.

Cleo seems keen to play happy families but Abe is still pulling all the strings.

He later ‘confides’ in John Paul about how worried he is about Cleo’s mental health.

His  sly goal is to manipulate John Paul into becoming his ally and to distrust Cleo's version of events. It seems his ploy has worked.

When  Cleo soon breaks down to John Paul, he doesn’t give her the support she was expecting because Abe’s lies have already got to him.

How is Cleo going to cope without the understanding of her family?

Meanwhile, Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe) tears a strip off Joel Dexter (Rory Douglas-Speed), who has been back using drugs.

She’s horrified that Joel is going  into work as a firefighter in his current state.

Joel thanks Mercedes for giving him a harsh reality check and he vows to stay off heroin.

However when Joel’s wife Leela (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) sees Mercy and Joel locked in a deep conversation together she jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Later on at the park Leela corners Mercedes wanting to know what's going on between her and Joel and what Joel might be hiding from her.

Will Mercedes tell her just how bad things have got with Joel’s drug-taking?

Elsewhere, Vicky Grant (Anya Lawrence)  and Ethan Williams (Matthew James-Bailey) start working together at The Loft and make a very compatible duo which Ethan’s ex, Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) picks up on.

Vicky has got a big crush on Ethan but is the feeling mutual?

It seems that despite his denials Ethan is just a little bit smitten with Vicky too.

Could this be the start of a new Hollyoaks relationship?

Hollyoaks airs Monday- Friday on E4 at 7pm

Stream the episode earlier on Channel 4

Or stream the episodes first on All4