John Junior, known as The Duckman is a British mental health activist and script consultant. He is known for co-creating, inspiring and featuring in multi-award winning and BAFTA nominated documentary series Hollyoaks ''IRL''. In November 2019 he created the mental health movement "John and Charlie's Journey," to raise awareness for suicide and mental illness.

Background

Junior was born with short leg syndrome, has a

clubfoot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

and suffers with arthritis. He was homeless at the age of 16. Junior lost his dad in 2018. Junior was diagnosed with depression and generalised anxiety disorder and was taking antidepressants in 2017. During lockdown in the covid pandemic Junior took himself off antidepressants as he felt he was becoming dependent on them. The side effects from

sertraline Sertraline, sold under the brand name Zoloft among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. The efficacy of sertraline for depression is similar to that of other antidepressants, and the differ ...

were unbearable. Junior now goes to the gym to help with his mental health and practices

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

Activism

In 2019, Junior started

vlogging A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

about his experiences of mental health issues on Instagram in order to reach others with mental health difficulties. In May 2020 Junior tested Samaritans self-help app for

UNILAD UNILAD is a British Internet media company and website owned by LADbible Group. The company markets itself as "a primary platform for youngsters for breaking news and relatable viral content", and has offices in London and Manchester. UNILAD wa ...

during mental health awareness week. Junior subsequently talked to

about their mental health struggles to help raise awareness for

world suicide prevention day World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003. The International Associat ...

on 10 September 2020. In November 2019, Junior created a

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

movement called "John and Charlie's Journey". Junior travels around the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with Charlie The Duck, (a stuffed toy teddy), to encourage people to talk about

and to end the judgement & stigma surrounding

. In September 2020 the "DBT for all campaign" was created by Junior to make dialectical behaviour therapy available and this therapy is used to treat children, teenagers and adults who are

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

, self-harm, and have self-destructive behaviours. The purpose of the campaign is to make DBT therapy more widely available on the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

throughout the United Kingdom. Supporting the campaign is

Esther McVey Esther Louise McVey (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Housing and Pl ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP for Tatton, who has applied for

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

. In October 2020, Junior started a campaign for the British government to fund billboards to sign post people to safety who are struggling with mental health throughout the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. In February 2020, Junior and Tanya Bardsley ''former

The Real Housewives of Cheshire ''The Real Housewives of Cheshire'' (abbreviated ''RHOCheshire'') is a British reality television series that premiered on ITVBe on 12 January 2015. Developed as the first British installment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired ...

'' created the wellness hub in Wilmslow. Junior was invited by friend

Keith Duffy Keith Peter Thomas Francis Julian John Duffy (born 1 October 1974) is an Irish singer, actor, radio and television presenter and drummer who began his professional music career as part of Irish boy band Boyzone alongside Ronan Keating, Mik ...

and

Brian McFadden Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer and television presenter who rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo ...

on stage of their Boyzlife concert in Manchester to share with their fans about Junior’s mental health awareness campaigning. Junior works with Samaritans, MIND, and Papyrus

charities to raise awareness, reduce stigma and prevent suicides.

Hollyoaks

At the start of the first UK

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

in March 2020, Junior was struggling with suicidal thoughts. After watching a

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

storyline that involved suicide, BBC Radio 5 filmed Junior thanking the storyline and the show.

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

have commissioned Limepictures to produce Hollyoaks IRL a series of short films of real-life stories. Junior's episode "Hollyoaks saved my life" was the first episode to be released on 16 June 2021. Junior went viral for his participation in the series Hollyoaks IRL. Hollyoaks saved my life ( Hollyoaks IRL), has been nominated for the a BAFTA TV Award, in the Short Form Programme 2022. '' Hollyoaks IRL'' series was inspired by Junior, and he was invited by

to attended the British Academy Television Awards, on 8 May 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. He was accompanied by Charlie the Duck,

Vera Chok Vera Chok is a Malaysian actress and writer based in the United Kingdom, who has featured in various stage, screen and radio roles. Since December 2021, she has played Honour Chen-Williams in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. Early and per ...

who plays

Honour Chen-Williams ''Hollyoaks'' is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that first appear in the show in 2021, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's e ...

and

Kieron Richardson Kieron Mark Richardson (born 12 January 1986) is an English actor and television presenter. He plays the role of Ste Hay in ''Hollyoaks'', having previously appeared in '' Heartbeat'' as Ricky Smith. He won the British Soap Award for Best On ...

who plays Ste Hay in the British Soap Opera

. Junior is making a feature film with Chloe Richardson called 'The Mood is Temporary', inspired by the ''Hollyoaks'' storyline that saved junior's life''.'' On 26th November 2022, Junior and Charlie The Duck attended the

Royal Television Society Awards The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

(North West) and received Best Digital Creativity award for Hollyoaks IRL series, which was presented by hosts

Adam Thomas Adam Thomas (born 11 August 1988) is an English actor, known for his roles as Donte Charles in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2009, 2022–present) and Adam Barton in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2009� ...

and

Jenny Powell Jenny Powell (born 8 April 1968) is an English television and radio presenter. After appearing on '' No Limits'', she went on to present series such as '' Wheel of Fortune'', '' UP2U'', ''Gimme 5'', '' Live Talk'', ''Wordplay'' and '' Daybreak' ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
John Junior
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{Authority control Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Mental health activists English media personalities People from Wilmslow British rappers