John Junior

John Junior, known as The Duckman is a British mental health activist. He is known for co-creating and featuring in the 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.

Junior was born with short leg syndrome, has a clubfoot and suffers with arthritis. They were homeless at the age of 16. Junior lost their dad in 2018. They were born with Klinefelter's syndrome.

Junior was diagnosed with depression and generalised anxiety disorder and was taking antidepressants in 2017. During lockdown in the covid pandemic Junior took themself off antidepressants as they felt they were becoming dependent on them. The side effects from sertraline were unbearable. Junior now goes to the gym to help with their mental health and practices meditation.

Junior went viral for spending £4,000 a year on bottled water. He only drinks bottled water from supermarket Co-op Food and the brand Fiji Water as they found it stopped their anxiety, migraines and eczema. They experimented and found that cutting tap water out of their diet has improved their overall wellbeing.

In 2019, Junior started vlogging about their experiences of mental health issues on Instagram in order to reach others with mental health difficulties. In May 2020, Junior tested the Samaritans' self-help app for UNILAD during mental health awareness week. Junior subsequently talked to UNILAD about their mental health struggles to help raise awareness for world suicide prevention day on 10 September 2020.

In November 2019, Junior created a mental health movement called "John and Charlie's Journey". Junior travels around the United Kingdom with Charlie The Duck, (a stuffed toy teddy), to encourage people to talk about mental health and to end the judgement & stigma surrounding mental health.

In September 2020, the "DBT for all campaign" was created by Junior to make dialectical behaviour therapy more widely available. (This therapy is used to treat children, teenagers and adults who are suicidal, self-harm, and have self-destructive behaviours.) The purpose of the campaign is to make DBT therapy more widely available on the NHS throughout the United Kingdom. The campaign was supported by Esther McVey, Conservative MP for Tatton, who applied for parliamentary debate at Westminster Hall.

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.

In February 2020, Junior and Tanya Bardsley former The Real Housewives of Cheshire created the wellness hub in Wilmslow.

Junior was invited to join Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden onstage at their Boyzlife concert in Manchester to share with their fans about Junior’s mental health campaigning.

Junior works with Samaritans, MIND, and Papyrus mental health charities to raise awareness, reduce stigma and prevent suicides.

Junior set up a campaign to keep the Metropolitan Police to respond to 999 calls related to mental health. The campaign reached over 13,000 signatures and wants all Police to be trained in mental health first aid.Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated in September 2023 the Metropolitan Police will not attend 999 calls linked to mental health.

At the start of the first UK lockdown in March 2020, Junior was struggling with suicidal thoughts. After watching a Hollyoaks storyline that involved suicide, BBC Radio 5 filmed Junior thanking the storyline and the show.

Channel 4 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 their 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 Junior was thus invited by Channel 4 to attended the British Academy Television Awards, on 8 May 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. They were accompanied by Charlie the Duck, Vera Chok (who plays Honour Chen-Williams) and Kieron Richardson (who plays Ste Hay).

Junior is making a feature film with Chloe Richardson called 'The Mood is Temporary', inspired by the Hollyoaks storyline that save junior's life.

On November 26, 2022, Junior and Charlie The Duck attended the Royal Television Society Awards (North West) and received the Best Digital Creativity award for the Hollyoaks IRL series, which was presented by hosts Adam Thomas and Jenny Powell.

In 2020, Junior and Kelly Sutherain filmed a powerful film in the covid-19 lockdown to help neighbours spot the signs of abuse and where to reach out for help and support. Junior and Sutherain shared their experiences to raise awareness.

Television

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