Josh Ashworth

Infobox soap character
series =Hollyoaks


caption=
name = Josh Ashworth
portrayer = Sonny Flood
creator =
first = October 2005
last =
born = 1991
occupation = Student
parents= Neville Ashworth (father)
Suzanne Ashworth (mother)
siblings= Hannah Ashworth (sister)
Rhys Ashworth (halfbrother)
grandparents= Bill Ashworth (grandfather)
aunts/uncles= Noel Ashworth
cousins= Jamie "Fletch" Fletcher
Beth Clement
Rhys Ashworth

Joshua "Josh" Ashworth (born July/August 1991) is a fictional character on the long-running British Channel 4 television soap opera "Hollyoaks".

He is played by actor Sonny Flood.

Character history

At war with Hannah

Josh and Fletch started a tour of the Hollyoaks woods to see the "Hollyoaks beast". When his sister Hannah found out, she, Sarah and Nancy played a trick on them by pretending to be the "real" Hollyoaks beast. Josh and Fletch became very frightened and Josh started giving a speech about how he would miss his sister if anything were to happen to him and that he should have been nicer to her. He was to be surprised when he found out it was a joke by the very person he was thinking of at that moment.

He and Fletch then tried to get on the Year 12 girls' "fit list" but he was tricked by Sarah, her sister Amy and Amy's friend Michaela McQueen, into stripping off in front of a class full of students.

The two lads then got their own back on Nancy, Hannah and Sarah by doing an interview with them then editing it so they gave funny answers to their questions, then looping it in the school hallway. The three girls then got him back by stealing Josh's childhood toys and putting them on display. Josh decided to end the war and the two sides agreed to a truce.

Relationship with Grampa Bill

Around Christmas 2005, Josh's Grampa Bill came to temporarily stay with the family. Josh managed to persuade his parents to let Fletch spend Christmas with them. The two friends never get on well with Gramps (though Gramps adores Hannah), and the pair found out that Bill had won some money on the horses. They managed to persuade Grampa Bill to buy some new clothes, but only on the condition that they got the clothes from the charity shops. Bill was unimpressed with any of the clothes and Josh told Fletch that Gramps was past it and there wasn't much point him spending his money as he wouldn't be around to enjoy it.

Upon hearing this Bill made a bet with his two grandchildren on the day they thought he would die. Rhys and Gilly Roach also made a bet and Grampa choice the day he would die as Christmas day. A few days before Christmas Bill found his war medals missing and blamed Gilly. Eventually he found out that Josh and Fletch had taken them to frame for his Christmas present. Gramps apologised to Gilly and the whole family ate their Christmas lunch together. After lunch the family noticed Grampa Bill wasn't breathing and Josh, Fletch, Hannah, Rhys, Gilly, Suzanne and Neville all stood round Bill assuming him to be dead. He sprung awake and asked Josh, Fletch, Rhys and Gilly for the money he had just won for the bet they had made.

Months then passed and Neville forced a reluctant Josh to visit his Grampa in his rest home along with Fletch. When Josh and Fletch saw how sad and lonely his Grampa was in his rest home. Josh then tried to tell his parents about Bill, but his dad was busy with work as he had to make some staff changes at Price Slice while Suzanne was busy with the family. Josh and Fletch managed to persuade Grampa to leave his home and the pair sneaked him into the Ashworth house. A few days passed and eventually Grampa was found by Suzanne, she called a family meeting with the rest of the family and had a vote as to whether or not Gramps could stay in the house. Suzanne was out voted as Grampa Bill had bribed his grandchildren to get them to vote his way.

Trying to be cool

At school Josh and Fletch were confronted by Ste Hay and Wayne Tunnicliffe, who told Josh that they fancied his sister Hannah. They asked Josh and Fletch to hang out with them after school and be in their gang. They encouraged the two cousins to smash up cars before Ste asked Josh if he and Wayne could come by his house to meet Hannah. The first time they came round Neville asked them to leave but Wayne recognised Neville from working at Price Slice (with his sister) and Neville gave the two lads a lecture in how he manges the supermarket. After going round to the Ashworths' house a few more times Ste and Wayne were bored of Hannah always being at either Sarah or Nancy's houses.

The inheritance

Things were looking bleak at the Ashworth House after Neville was fired from Price Slice after refusing to fire a long term employee, to save the shareholders of Price Slice's money. This meant that Suzanne had to do extra shifts for her job as a nurse at the local hospital.

Neville wanted to buy the local shop, Drive 'N' Buy after it was put up for sale by the owner Max Cunningham, but the family couldn't afford the shop. Grampa Bill decided to give his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren their inheritance as he wanted to be around to see them enjoy it.

Hannah and Rhys were going to spend their share on a holiday while Josh wanted to buy a new mountain bike, but Neville realised that his share alone wouldn't be able to buy Drive 'N' Buy. He asked the family to but all their shares together but they all refused. Grampa Bill, with help from Fletch, managed to persuade Hannah and Rhys to do the right thing (using emotional blackmail).

Josh was then told by Fletch that it would pay off for him in the long run and that if he didn't do the right thing Neville would have to get a 9-5 job and Suzanne would have to carry on doing extra shifts and Josh would never see them, just like Fletch's own parents. This along with a little nudge from Hannah and Grampa Bill, persuaded Josh to give up his share. Though Josh did ask if he could keep a bit of his money.

Joyriding

Josh tried again to be cool with Ste, so he copied an adult video for Ste, who had just got back with Amy Barnes. Ste asked if he could go to the Ashworths' house to get it, so he, Amy, Josh and Fletch went round there and Ste noticed Neville had left his car keys on show. Ste then took the boys and Amy for a joyride in Neville's car before bringing it back again.

He, Fletch, Michaela and Amy were walking home from school when Ste pulled up in a stolen BMW. Ste told them all to get in the car and he drove the car across town. The police started chasing them but Ste lost them and told the others to get out of the car while he ditched it.

In school he and Fletch overheard Amy, Michaela and Ste planning to skip school and go joyriding again. Amy wanted to stir a situation between Ste and the two cousins by telling Ste that Josh and Fletch criticised his driving. Ste told the two that they should come with them so he could prove how great a driver he was, but Fletch refused and Josh hesitated. Ste and the girls went and left them behind.

While walking home from school that day they found Ste and the two girls waiting for them. Ste threatened them with a beating if they didn't get in the car. Josh was easier to persuade then Fletch who only went along because Josh was going. Josh wanted Ste to think he was cool and bought him and the others some beer.

Ste's plan was to prove to the two cousins that he was an experienced driver by speeding and swerving on the road and trying to frighten them before leaving them stranded in the countryside.

While driving dangerously down the road he turned around to ask Josh and Fletch, "How's my driving?" and took his eyes of the road. The others in the car shouted to him to watch the road. Ste turned around just in time to see a dividor in the road; he swerved to avoid it and ended up crashing the car.

Ste ran off after leaving Josh, Fletch and Michaela with an injured Amy, who had not been wearing a seatbelt. Ste told the others to keep quiet about him otherwise he would kill them all.

Josh and Fletch were arrested at the scene and spent the night in a police cell, while Michaela went to the hospital with Amy. Days passed and Josh, Fletch, Amy and Michaela were convicted for joyriding and sentenced to community service. A few days later Josh and Fletch ran into Ste who was hiding in the village and along with Michaela's brother John Paul managed to hand Ste over to PC Calvin Valentine.

Relationship with Amy Barnes

A few months later Josh was partnered, for a school assignment, with Amy. The two got on well together during the assignment and Josh took the risk of asking Amy out: to his joy she said yes. Josh doesn't know that Amy is 7 months pregnant (though neither Josh nor Ste is the father), or that Amy is only dating Josh as he is a good laugh and is a distraction from her current problem (which was also the reason she went joyriding with Ste and Michaela).

Josh's mum, Suzanne Ashworth, who was a nurse at the hospital at and was attending to Amy, knows of her pregnancy, she told Amy to stay away from her son. So Amy then broke up with Josh and he started moping around the house until his brother Rhys and Rhys's best mate Gilly Roach suggested he write down his heartbreak into a song. This gave Josh an idea and he wrote Amy a song called "I'm in Love". He persuaded Fletch to record the music and together they sung the song at his sister, Hannah's 18th Birthday party. Amy ran out embarrassed because she didn't want the school to know she was dating Josh, but she did admit to Josh (who had ran out after her, leaving Fletch to sing the song by himself) that she thought it was sweet of him to create a song for her and the two then got back together.

After getting back with Amy, Josh invited her round to his house. Rhys gave Josh a condom and told him that girls like a man who is experienced and in control. When Amy came over the two started kissing and Josh tried to take things further but Amy became cross and Josh realised he had done the wrong thing and apologised. They then started talking about the future and Josh asked Amy if she would be attending 6th form. Amy replied that she didn't know and Josh told her he'd be going. The two then started arm wrestling and playing about.

The next day Josh noticed someone had dropped a necklace on the ground and gave it to Amy as a present and asked her out on a date, which she accepted. But later Rhys told Josh he'd have to look after the shop because his band had just got a gig. Josh closed the shop and set up a picnic as a surprise for Amy. She was about to tell him something - presumably that she was pregnant - but Frankie Osborne came into the shop to buy supplies for baby Charlie.

A few weeks later Josh noticed Amy having stomach problems at school but she told him it was PMS and he invited her round to his house to use Suzanne's therapeutic pillow. He went to get some music for Amy but when he came back into the room he noticed Amy had left and there was a wet patch on his bed. Josh assumed she had wet herself because she hadn't been feeling well, but actually her waters had broken. Josh then phoned Amy on her mobile and left a message to tell her not to worry about the bed.

The following week Amy missed school and had her baby which she called Leah, while Josh was off sick because of the flu. When he recovered he and Fletch set up a party. Josh wanted to invite Amy, but couldn't find her. He did, however manage to invite Amy's best mate, Michaela. Amy tried texting him but he didn't receive any of her messages.

Fletch gave Josh a condom and told him to get lucky with some other girls but Josh only wanted Amy. Amy later arrived with Michaela and started drinking heavily because of her problems with Leah. Josh went up to talk to her and Amy asked him why he didn't answer her texts. She then asked him to go upstairs with her to his room and forced herself on him, but Josh didn't want to take advantage of her in the drunken state she was in. Just then Michaela burst into his room and assumed Josh had tried to have sex with Amy while she was drunk. She took Amy home, leaving a confused Josh behind.

The following day he tried to text and phone Amy to see if she was all right but she was busy dealing with a health visitor.

Mike's interference with Amy

Amy and Josh made up with each other, and started spending more time together, after reading Amy's diary her father Mike came to school and dragged Amy home, mistakenly believing that Josh was the father of baby Leah. He then dragged her to get the pill, despite Amy protests that she and Josh hadn't slept together and then banned them from seeing each other. Meanwhile at school Amy's sister Sarah had a talk with Josh and believed him when he told her he hadn't slept with her sister.

The following day at school Amy told Josh what had happened and they noticed Mike walking around school. They then decided to cut classes and Amy sold her bracelet and Josh his guitar so they could go on an expensive date together. Then they went to a party at Il Gnosh where Mike confronted Amy infont of everyone and dragged her home.

The next day Josh went round to the Barnes' house, where the pair found Mike's home brew, and stole some, getting drunk as it was much stronger than they had believed it to be. Mike burst in on them after they had been dancing and fallen on the bed, getting the wrong idea. He tried to kick Josh out the house and banned him from seeing Amy, but when he implied that Amy was a prostitute (because of getting pregnant, which Josh didn't know) Josh stood up to him for Amy, and as a result, Mike punched him in the face.

Trying to hide his black eye from Suzanne, Josh almost managed it, but was found out when she came home from work. After letting slip it was Mr Barnes, his Mum stormed down to see him, and Josh followed her, trying to stop her. After a confrontation at Drive'N'Buy, Suzanne warned Amy to stay away from her son, and Mike dragged Amy away.

They still continued to meet, and after references to Romeo and Juliet, they decided to meet in Amy's room, where Josh would climb through the window. They talked while lying on the bed, and Josh bought up the topic of Amy's new baby "sister" and that he didn't think the baby was Kathy's. When Amy asked him who he thought Leah belong to he suggested Sarah and let slip that he thought getting pregnant as a teenager was for stupid people. Amy retalliated, but before anything could happen, Mike came along, and Josh had to hide in the cupboard, hearing the hints Mike was dropping about Amy being Leah's mother. However, he can't have guessed, as they met the next day, this time at the Ashworth's house, where Rhys and Gilly caught them. After bargaining with Rhys, the two were free to go upstairs, as long as they didn't get caught.

Josh recently hit girlfriend Amy's dad with a brick while defending himself (but it wasn't his fault!!). No one except Gilly, Rhys, Mike and Josh knew of this. Mike then gave Josh a choice, split up with Amy or he will report him for assault. Josh realised that either way he won't see Amy so in the end just as Amy is about to tell Josh the truth about Leah's parentage he dumps her.

Wanting to be together Josh and Amy ran away together, but when they were robbed called Amy's sister Sarah for help. When she arrived she brought the police with her. Josh was arrested for the attack on Amy and Sarah's father Mike Barnes. He was released on bail, after lying about his whereabouts.

Mike Barnes later dropped the charges after an agreement with Josh's mum (Suzanne), which meant that she would not tell anyone about Amy being Leah's mother

Finding Out About Amy's Pregnancy

At Amy's 16th birthday party, she revealed that Leah wasn't her sister, but her daughter. Josh didn't know about this, and was annoyed and upset that Amy hadn't told him this. He later found out that his mum, Suzanne, knew, as she had been Amy's nurse after the joyriding incident. He was annoyed about this, although he later appeared to have forgiven her for not telling him about it, due to patient confidentiality. He later broke up with Amy as he felt he couldn't trust her anymore.

Back from France

When Josh came back late from France with Rhys, he found someone whom he loved known as Felicity, but she wanted nothing to do with him, leaving him really upset. Rhys comforted him, but Melissa said to "get over it", which led Rhys to throw her and Hannah out, causing Melissa to later collapse. Josh was deeply worried about Hannah after the truth of her bulimia was revealed. Josh thought he might be to blame, since he often slags her over her weight. When Hannah and Melissa tried to run away, Josh found them and, out of concern for Hannah, called out for Suzanne. He tried to get Hannah to tell them what they had done wrong but was interrupted by Melissa's heart attack. When Hannah's condition continued to worsen, Josh got more and more frustrated because no one was dealing with the situation. He finally had enough with Suzanne and Rhys's arguing, and out of concern for Hannah, tried to force feed her a cream cake, before collapsing in tears after Rhys managed to pull him off her.

Back With Amy?

Josh is in tears over his lack of family's support over Hannah's eating disorder and is spotted by Amy in the park. At first she is apprehensive about seeing him warning him not to speak to her, but she soon realises he is upset and consoles him. He confides in her about his problems and they nearly kiss, but are interrupted by the arrival of Amy's sister Sarah. After Hannah has been sent to hospital, Amy bumps into Josh again where he confides Hannah's situation to her and the two agree to meet up later the next day. Problem was that while Amy was waiting for Josh he was comforting his mum over Hannah. After Amy had waited a while, plus phoned Josh's mobile but he didn't answer, she crashed into Ste. She went with Ste to his squat so by the time Josh went over to see Amy she was already gone. He wrote her a note and left it on her doorstep but she didn't notice it as she went inside her home and the note blew away. Amy then began a relationship with Ste, but it ended after Ste began to abuse Amy.

Friend Troubles

Josh enters the reformed Baby Diegos (minus Amy) in the battle of the bands but disaster strikes when Fletch turns up stoned and plays Amy Josh Forever, much to their embarrassment. He claims to be drunk, but Michaela finds heroin in his bag and confronts him with it. However, this backfires and ends with everyone thinking the drugs are hers.Josh later talks to Fletch, telling him he'll help if Fletch admits to taking the heroin. Fletch still refuses and Josh walks away from him, possibly forever.He tries to continue the band with just him and Michaela, but when at his house for practise, she spots Rhys and Beth kissing. She spends the next day desperatly trying to avoid him, but when he confronts her she admits all to him,.Later, Josh confronts Rhys and Beth with the rumours, and despite their suspicious behaviour he believes their denial and sends Michaela packing.He is now friendless.

Micheala and H.I.V

It is now apparent that Michaela and Josh are now friends again after finding out that Beth and Rhys were lying about not being together. On 2nd April Micheala receives a letter informing her of her HIV test, but she was worried and did not want to go, although after a small confrontation with Josh, he decided to attend with her and found out she had the all clear.

Back with Amy

After Amy breaks up with Ste they once again become close. In the end, Amy asks Josh to take her to an abortion clinic, which he agrees to do. However, Amy then reveals that Ste was never the father of Leah and Josh runs out. Amy comes to appologise, and tells him that he wants them to get back together. She then tells him to shut his eyes and she kisses him with her hands cupped like antlers (she once kissed him years ago when she was wearing fake antlers). Josh remembers, and they get back together. After Ste taunts Josh, Josh reveals that Amy asked him to go to the abortion clinic with him. Ste tries to convince Amy not to have the abortion, but she admits that she doesn't want to go through with the abortion anyway. Ste tries to win her back, but she tells him to stay away from her and her baby, and that she is now with Josh. Although angry with Josh for revealing her secret about the abortion, they get back together while a gutted Ste demolishes his flat.

External links

* [http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/H/hollyoaks/cast/boys/joshashworth/ Josh Ashworth] on the [http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/H/hollyoaks Hollyoaks website]