Abe and Cleo’s story continues.

Note – This article contains discussion of coercive control, domestic abuse and eating disorders.

One of the most compelling Hollyoaks storylines of 2024 has been the coercive control story involving Abe Fielding and Cleo McQueen. Cleo returned to the village in January in dramatic fashion, having left her current boyfriend Abe – after he fought with two men over her.

Abe followed her to the village a few days later and started a new life there, working as a personal trainer. Things were complicated for the on-off couple, especially when it was revealed that Cleo’s ex-fiancé Joel is Abe’s half-brother, and Abe used Cleo’s cousin Theresa to manipulate her emotions.

Eventually, Cleo and Abe settled into a more stable relationship. But behind closed doors, Abe had begun to exert control over Cleo, with physical and emotional abuse that continues to grow more severe.

Abe has tried to turn Cleo against her family, while encouraging her to lose weight and gaslighting her into thinking her eating disorder has returned. Plus, Cleo reluctantly agreeing to have an open relationship led to Abe sleeping with Theresa straight away, leaving her feeling insecure.

Viewers have been wondering when Abe’s abuse might be revealed, so here is everything we know about the future of the storyline.

When will Hollyoaks’ Abe Fielding be caught out?

It hasn’t yet been confirmed just when Abe’s abusive behaviour will be exposed to the village, but it is thought that there will be some major developments in the coming weeks.

Back in May, Hollyoaks revealed the future of the emerging storyline, announcing that the soap would be working with the government amid their own domestic abuse campaign.

It was confirmed that Cleo and Abe’s story would be one of the show’s main plots in 2024 and would peak over the summer – so it seems that the dramatic plot will be coming to a head very soon.

This peak might come during the soap’s upcoming stunt week which will air at the start of September. The stories that are currently being told on screen this summer will be a catalyst to what happens, and producer Hannah Cheers confirmed to Digital Spy that Cleo and Abe will play a key role in this special week.

“Abe’s abuse of Cleo increases and it becomes physically abusive,” she said. “His coercive control also really ramps up. It gets to the point where, after Abe does something horrific to her, Cleo has a major decision to make in the stunt week.”

Who will find out about Abe Fielding’s coercive control?

This month, Abe’s abuse has come very close to being exposed. Another big story at the moment surrounds Kitty Draper’s secret – earlier this year, she stole the identity of the real Kitty, her friend who died in the huge car accident. In recent scenes, it came out that it was Abe who originally filed her missing person’s report.

As Abe realised Kitty isn’t who she says she is, Kitty realised that Abe was her friend’s abusive ex who she was running from in the first place. She warned Cleo about Abe’s dangerous past, but Cleo eventually took her boyfriend’s side and concluded that Kitty was lying.

“There is a standoff between them in Casa McQueen,” actor Iz Hesketh told Inside Soap, “but this time Kitty isn’t scared of him. She tells Abe if she sees him step one foot out of line with Cleo, Theresa or anyone else, she is going straight to the police.”

But things are tricky – if she goes to the police with the messages on the real Kitty’s phone, she will have to reveal her true identity and she will be linked to Declan’s murder – joining Beau who is currently in prison for the crime.

However, Hesketh has confirmed that Kitty would do anything to take Abe down, saying: “She’s willing to risk her freedom to protect others, which is a huge move. She doesn’t care what happens to her, as long as no other women have to go through what the real Kitty went through.

“She knows [Abe] wouldn’t dare touch her, but she is scared of what she might have to do should he touch someone else. Bluffs are being called left, right and centre!”

But Kitty isn’t the only village resident with suspicions about Abe. John Paul has been doubtful about whether Cleo has been making the right choices, especially when she announced that she and Abe were moving in together.

As well as this, in recent scenes, Donny and Misbah joined Cleo and Abe for lunch. Afterwards Donny remarked to his new partner that Abe is a misogynist, as well as expressing concern that he was controlling Cleo when it came to ordering food.

Misbah later decided to ask Cleo if she was okay, realising that Abe may not be treating her well. While Cleo brushed off her concerns, Misbah made it clear that she was there to support her if there was ever anything she wanted to talk about.

Despite this, Jorgie Porter, who plays Theresa, recently told Inside Soap that it could be a while before someone properly clocks Abe’s abuse when it comes to Cleo.

“He is very sneaky and nobody has spotted it yet,” she said. “Theresa doesn’t see Abe as the bad guy – maybe some signs are there but he talks the talk. He says these awful things to Cleo, but not to the rest of the family, so we don’t know what he’s like.

“At this point I don’t actually think Abe can be stopped. There is no resolve here – maybe John Paul has started to clock something, but will anyone listen to him? They might all catch on later, possibly when it’s too late.”

What will happen to Cleo and Abe after the time jump?

Hollyoaks’ big stunt week will take place just before the soap jumps forward 12 months in time, in a huge change that relates to recent budget cuts. So, as well as the dramatic events of the next few weeks, where will Cleo and Abe be a year on?

That remains tightly under wraps for now, but Cheers teased to Digital Spy what viewers can expect when the show makes the shift in September.

She said: “There are a lot of new elements in the first episode back, which will pick up from things that had been teased a couple of weeks earlier, before the time jump. Those have been loosely built to.

“Then you’re in a whole new era. There’ll be some active questions that you’ll want the answers to when we come back to the show. But the fact that we’re jumping forward poses that question of: where are these people in a year’s time?”

It could be that Cleo and Abe’s story is far from over…

Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.