Haiesha Mistry feels "overwhelmed" by the number of people who have backed Hollyoaks’ far-right radicalisation storyline.
The 26-year-old star’s character Yasmine Maalik was left fighting for her life last week after she was caught up in a blast caused by extremist Jonny Baxter (Ray Quinn) – who has been grooming Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) for months into joining his far-right group – and she feels "so proud" to have raised awareness of the hard-hitting subject.
She wrote on Instagram: "So much blood sweat and tears have gone into creating and accurately portraying this harsh reality. I’m overwhelmed with the amount of people supporting this storyline and very bravely speaking up about their own experiences.
"Yasmine has been on a huge journey and as I take on another challenge it makes me so proud to continuously raise awareness on real issues."
The storyline attracted praise from the British government last week as security minister Brandon Lewis thanked the Channel 4 soap’s bosses for raising awareness about the threat of radicalisation.
He said: "The Home Office has worked closely with ‘Hollyoaks’ to help them show how Prevent stops vulnerable individuals being drawn into all forms of terrorism.
"This storyline is hugely important in raising awareness of the threat of radicalisation and shows how easily it can happen to anyone, on or off screen.
"Prevent is vital in helping turn people’s lives around and keeping our communities safe, and I thank the producers of ‘Hollyoaks’ for working with us to provide an accurate picture of how it works."
Haiesha previously admitted she was initially "a bit nervous" about taking on the plot.
She said: "When ‘Hollyoaks’ told us that they wanted to do this storyline, I was a bit nervous about it."
Haiesha Mistry ‘overwhelmed’ by Hollyoaks radicalisation plot reaction
