Hollyoaks is tackling the terrifying issue of knife crime and one of its stars personally knows the soap has got it exactly right.
Richard Blackwood has revealed he has first-hand experience of twice being mugged – with a knife and a gun.
He was just a teenager when robbed at knifepoint in London. Sickeningly, his son Keaun had a similar experience when he was aged just 11.
Richard, 50, who plays Felix Westwood in the Channel 4 soap, said: “I was grateful to live another day.”
Speaking at Wednesday’s Television and Radio Industries Club awards, the ex-EastEnders actor said: “We’ve got an upcoming storyline about knife crime and we are really approaching it in a serious manner.
“A lot of these young kids are going through it right now, so we want to let them know we hear them and know what they are going through.
“There have been groups we have contacted to make sure the storyline is spot on. You can’t take something serious and make a farce of it. You have to take it seriously.
“When I was 17 I got mugged at knifepoint. Unfortunately knife crime has been going on for years. When the knife got pulled on me it was like a sword.
“My son also got a knife pulled on him aged 11. He had an iPhone 5 and I remember him saying to me, ‘I’m going to get a cheaper phone’.
“He had to adapt to what was going on in the street and go, I’m going to make myself less of a target.
“My son came through it though and I’m very proud of him.”
Richard was 35 when he was later held up with a gun to his head outside a club in London’s West End.
He said: “About a week later, I returned to the club because I had to DJ.
“My mum said, ‘Are you OK to go back to the club?’ I said, ‘Yes’. You either make me stay in my house and be afraid to go outside or be grateful I was able to live another day and attack life.”
But Richard accepts some people feel unable do that, which is why Hollyoaks wanted to do the storyline.
At the time Richard was terrified and did not call the police. He said: “There was no point – you just want to be as far away from the situation as possible. The right thing to do is call the police, but there is so much adrenaline and you just want to be as far away from that spot as possible.”
He is yet to tell Keaun, now 21, about the soap plot but believes he will be proud. “Our kids have to go through their own stories but we are always there with them and it’s what we teach them that helps them navigate through,” he added.
Richard believes Hollyoaks is at the forefront of TV dramas willing to tackle racial issues, although improved racial equality within the TV industry is “a slow mover”. He said: “With myself being in the industry, I’m part of that bridge.
“Rather than expecting it to turn around just like that, it’s more about the part we play in turning it around.
“At times you don’t even get to see it, it’s the people behind you that get to benefit from what you’ve done.
“If you think about women’s rights. Emmeline Pankhurst.
“The Suffragettes. Emmeline didn’t get to see how things are for women now but you know she was a part of the push.
“It’s about laying your brick rather than thinking it’s got to start and end with you.
“I 100% want to be part of that change. It’s a burden I’m willing to carry. In life you either stand for something or you don’t and I’m willing to stand for something.”
Before joining Hollyoaks in 2020, the comedian and rapper played Albert Square’s smooth but steely charmer Vincent Hubbard from 2015 to 2018.
The character was confirmed dead in October 2021.
Richard first shot to fame in 1999 with hit Channel 4 TV series The Richard Blackwood Show.
He was a presenter on Top of the Pops and hosted an MTV show with Donna Air.
In 2000, he had a number three single on the UK Singles Chart with the song Mama Who Da Man, following it up with two singles, 1.2.3.4 Get with the Wicked, which went to number 10, and Someone There for Me, landing 23 on the charts.
He became the step-brother of supermodel Naomi Campbell when his father married her mother in the 1980s, until their divorce several years later.
Richard previously revealed he almost took his own life after filing for bankruptcy in 2003 left him depressed.
Ex-girlfriend Samia stopped him shooting himself.
