Character Profile | List of appearances |
Ryan Knight was the husband of Amy Barnes and nephew of police officer Geoff Thorpe, whom were both murdered by Ryan. In May 2018, Ryan fell into a river during a fight with Harry Thompson, who left him to drown.
Biography[]
1985-2016: Life Before Hollyoaks[]
Ryan was born on 27th January 1985. On Millennium Eve, his father caught him in bed with another man and swore him to keep it secret from his mother, only telling his brother Geoff Thorpe. On the night of 1st January 2000, Ryan's father - a police officer - was fatally shot whilst on a call.
2016-2017: Arrival & Amy's Murder[]
Ryan arrives in Hollyoaks with his fiancée, Amy Barnes, and her two children, Leah and Lucas. Ryan is the nephew of D.S. Geoff Thorpe and joins his uncle working at the Dee Valley police station. Ryan immediately clashes with Amy's ex-boyfriend, Ste Hay. Ste does not want Ryan around his kids and they constantly come to blows. Amy and Ryan win full custody of the kids and try to cut Ste out of their lives. One night, after an argument with Amy, Ryan sleeps with Mercedes McQueen. Amy finds out Ryan cheated and dumps him so he leaves for Canada.
Ryan returns from Canada weeks later and begs Amy to marry him. Amy comes around and they are married in a beautiful ceremony. After the ceremony, Ryan and Amy announce they are moving to the United States, where Ryan has been offered a job. Ste refuses to let Ryan and Amy take the kids and they go to an emergency custody hearing. The judge grants Ryan and Amy permission to move with the kids, leaving Ste furious. Amy is murdered later that night, her body being found by Ryan and her father, Mike.
2017: Relationship with Mercedes, Affair with Kyle/Sexuality & Attempts to frame Ste[]
Ste is charged with Amy's murder and Ryan takes over raising Leah and Lucas. Ryan grows close to Mercedes and they begin seeing each other. Ryan had claimed he was at the Loft while Amy was murdered, but the CCTV footage is missing. Ryan admits to Mercedes that he stole the footage because he had cheated on Amy that night. The person he cheated with turns out to be Kyle Kelly. Ryan is scared that the truth about his adultery and sexuality will come out. Ryan sleeps with Kyle again, but rejects him immediately afterwards and Kyle threatens to expose their affair to Mercedes.
In order to stop him Ryan has Kyle arrested for drug dealing, but Kyle ends up telling Mercedes anyway and she dumps Ryan. Ryan works with Ste's lawyer James Nightingale, who hates Ste for ruining his relationship with John Paul McQueen, to throw the case against him. James begins to take things too far and Ryan cuts ties with him. Ryan testifies to Ste's good character in court and he is acquitted. Ryan's colleague, D.S. Gavin Armstrong, is later charged with Amy's murder.
2017: 'Who Killed Amy' Reveal & Relationship with Tegan[]
Through a flashback, it is revealed that it was Ryan who murdered Amy. Ryan had accidentally called Amy during his encounter with Kyle and left her a voicemail. When Ryan arrived home, Amy furiously confronted him about cheating on her with a man on their wedding day. Amy said how foolish she felt to have fallen in love with another gay man and that she was leaving with her father immediately. Amy threatened to tell everyone that Ryan was gay and he murdered her in a fit of rage.
After being released from prison, Kyle begs Ryan to give them a chance, but Ryan vehemently refuses. Ryan tries to pick up a male prostitute, but then has to pretend he is on sting operation when the prostitute turns out to be Harry Thompson. James is suspicious and confronts Ryan, who emotionally admits that he sleeps with men. Needing a cover, Ryan begins dating Ste's half-sister, Tegan Lomax.
After some time, Ryan becomes overwhelmed with guilt and decides to confess to murdering Amy. However, Diane Hutchinson, tells Ryan that it was Harry who murdered Amy. It turns shortly before Ryan had murdered Amy, Harry had gone to confront her about taking Ste's children and she accidentally fell and hit her head. Harry panicked and ran out, leaving Amy unconscious on the floor. Ryan threatens to turn Harry into the police, but James stops him by threatening to reveal he is gay.
2018: Sleeping with Ste, Attempted Murder of Tegan, Abducting Kim & Murdering Geoff[]
During an explosive argument about Ryan's treatment of Tegan, Ste and Ryan impulsively sleep together. Ryan declares it a mistake and begs Ste not to tell anybody. When Harry is arrested for Amy's murder, Tegan is not happy to learn Ryan already knew what Harry had done. Ryan and Ste turn to each other for comfort and Tegan sees them in the heat of passion. Tegan angrily confronts Ryan and he accidentally calls Tegan by Amy's name, making her realise that he killed Amy. When Tegan threatens to go to the police, Ryan suffocates her. Believing that he has killed her, Ryan places Tegan in the bath to make it look like an accident. Tegan turns out to still be alive, but she is in a coma. Ryan learns Tegan left Kim Butterfield a voicemail the night he attacked her. Kim tells Ryan she knows he killed Amy so he kidnaps her and locks her in the basement of Hollyoaks High. Ste tells Ryan that Tegan has woken up from her coma, though this turns out to be a lie told by Tegan's niece, Peri Lomax. Ryan leaves town fearing that the truth about him will be exposed.
Ryan rushes back to town when he receives a message from Ste saying Leah is in hospital. It turns out Leah is fine and that she had actually sent him the message. Ste's other half-sister, Leela, publicly confronts Ste and Ryan about their affair. Ryan finally accepts that he is gay and starts a relationship with Ste. When Geoff reveals that he knows about Ryan sleeping with Kyle the night of Amy's murder, Ryan strangles his uncle to death, which is witnessed by Glenn Donovan. In exchange for his silence, Glenn gets Ryan to help him frame Shane Sweeney for the murders of Geoff and a man Glenn had murdered called Trigger.
2018: Arrest, Deal with Farrah, Escape, Death & Death Aftermath[]
Tegan wakes up from her coma and reveals everything Ryan has done. Ryan is finally arrested for Amy's murder. Ryan makes a deal with Kim's girlfriend, Farrah Maalik: he will tell her the location of Kim's body (though Kim is actually still alive), but only if she breaks him out of prison. Farrah helps Ryan escape, but then he discovers she is wearing a wire and escapes. Ryan tracks down Ste, Harry, Leah, and Lucas at a campsite and confesses to all of his crimes. Harry chases after Ryan and they have a struggle, causing Ryan to fall backwards into a river. Ryan pleads with Harry to help him, but Harry walks away and Ryan appears to drown.
Harry feels guilty over what he did to Ryan and fears he may actually still be alive. However, it is confirmed Ryan died when his body is discovered. Everyone affected by Ryan's actions has to figure out a way to pick up the pieces.
Kill count[]
Murders[]
- Amy Barnes, 27th March 2017 - Suffocated after she told him she was going to tell everyone in the village he was gay.
- Geoff Thorpe, 27th March 2018 - Strangled with a necklace after he had figured out Ryan killed Amy and told him he had to turn himself in.
Attempted murders[]
- Tegan Lomax, 12th January 2018 - After she had found out he killed Amy, her sister Leela knocked at the door and Tegan tried to call out to her but Ryan grabbed her and suffocated her afterwards. He then put her in the bath staging it to look like a suicide but after she was discovered by Leela, Harry and Ryan. Leela checked for a pulse and told Ryan she was still alive but the hospital later told them she was in a coma.
- Kim Butterfield, 2nd February 2018 - After she found out he killed Amy and attacked Tegan, he locked her in a room in Hollyoaks High, which was currently closed after Mac Nightingale caused an explosion there and after Peri Lomax told everyone Tegan had awoken from her coma, Ryan thought he would be found out so he left the village leaving Kim to die in the basement but it transpired Peri had lied to get back at her mother Leela and Kim was able to survive until she was found by her girlfriend Farrah Maalik and the police.
- Ste Hay, 10th April 2018 - After Ste discovered his crimes, there was a brief fight and Ryan started strangling Ste but was interrupted by Tony Hutchinson and Leela Lomax so Ryan ran away.
- Harry Thompson, 7th May 2018 - After following him, Ste and the kids out in the woods, Ryan attempted to bludgeon him to death with a large stick but was interrupted when he heard Ste, Leah, and Lucas calling for Harry. Ryan then ran away.
Introduction Shots[]
- 2016-2017: Ryan and Amy Barnes appear at a Funfair.
- 2017–2018: Ryan appears through a cloud of smoke at The Archway.