Hollyoaks has been causing controversy lately, as popular character John Paul McQueen battles his feelings for local priest, Father Kieron.

It promises to stir up as much attention as these other shocking on-screen couplings...

Nat and Georgia: Brookside, 1996
For a soap that had tackled heroin addiction, child abuse and the burial of a resident under a patio, it was only a matter of time before the topic of incest was explored. Brother and sister lovers Nat and Georgia Simpson sparked a media outcry as the plot unfolded in dramatic fashion. Often regarded as one step too far for the doomed soap, the characters were axed as their shocked fictional neighbours reacted with repulsion to the bombshell.

Martin and Katy: Coronation Street 2003
34-year-old Martin Platt sickened his neighbours, and a fair few viewers, when he took a shine to neighbour Katy Harris in one of the show's most unconventional romantic storylines. The age-gap relationship was made even more gruesome by Katy's wholly unpleasant personality. In the end her overbearing father broke the pair up - and paid with his life. A storyline we'd rather forget, thanks.

David and Bianca: EastEnders, 1993
Never actually a couple, but Bianca Jackson came dangerously close to committing incest as her feelings for new arrival David Wicks grew into an obsession. Unbeknown to her, David was her dad - and he was struggling with some rather unpaternal feelings for his new flame-haired neighbour. Though it was never explicit on screen, viewers were lead to believe that David harboured feelings for his teenage offspring before their true relationship was exposed. Grubby.

Kirsty and Kane: Home and Away, 2005
Kirsty royally upset her sister Dani when she embarked on a relationship with local criminal Kane Philips, who had previously stood trial for raping Dani. Everybody but Dani magically forgot that Kane was introduced as a dangerous rapist and went on to become the show's biggest anti-hero. So very wrong.

Justin and Becca: Hollyoaks, 2005
Student and teacher duo Justin and Becca crossed a very dodgy line when, on Christmas Day 2005, the pair slept together. Becca later fell pregnant - though we're still unsure as to whether the baby's father was Justin or Becca's husband Jake. Becca paid the price for falling for her student; after Justin lied in court, telling a judge he was 15 when they first had sex, she was branded a sex pest and incarcerated - spending her final Hollyoaks days in the big house.

Colin and Barry: EastEnders, 1987
Hardly shocking by today's standards, but back in the eighties the first gay couple on prime time BBC TV sparked public debate. A screen kiss between Colin and barrow-boy Barry (try saying that after your first large gin and tonic of the evening) resulted in a record number of complaints, with right-wing newspapers branding the show "EastBenders". Questions in parliament were raised about the acceptability of the storyline before the watershed, but producers stood by the plot.