Oliver Sabel

Oliver Sabel is a popular fictional character in the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love : in English). The character is portrayed by actor Jo Weil from 31 December 1999 to 3 September 2002 and again since 2 November 2007.^[1]

Character's background

Oliver is the nephew of Charlie Schneider (Gabriele Metzger) and cousin of Olivia (Kristina Dörfer). His mother, Henriette is in bad terms with Charlie and has kept her away from Oliver during his childhood. It was mentioned once that he has a younger brother.

Oliver is disowned by his mother when she discovers his relationship with another man, Tom Seifert (played by Kay Böger) and was supported by his aunt Charlie since. At the end of this relationship, he leaves Düsseldorf to work as a steward. Five years later, Oliver returns to the show, reuniting with Charlie and moving into a flat-share with Coco Faber (Mariangela Seclsi) and her boyfriend Christian Mann (Thore Schölermann). Due to problems in her relationship with Christian, Coco ends up kissing Oliver and develops feelings for him. However, after spending time with him on a camping trip, Oliver finds himself falling in love with Christian. Oliver goes on to find himself torn by his feelings for Christian, knowing he is straight and with a woman.

After Christian discovers Coco and Oliver's kiss, an angry confrontation at the boxing club prompts Oliver to kiss him and finally confess his feelings. However, Christian rejects Oliver by claiming he is straight. Despite this, Christian becomes confused about his sexuality and breaks up with Coco, but isn't willing to admit he has developed feelings for Oliver too. Later, Oliver chats with a man who is confused about his sexuality, unaware that it's actually Christian. When the truth comes out, their confrontation leads to them having sex for the first time, but afterwards Christian claims that he was only testing his sexuality. However, when he sees Oliver dancing with another guy at a party, he can't hide his jealousy and admits his feelings for Oliver and they start a relationship.

Oliver supports Christian's boxing aspirations, hiding their relationship from his manager and from the public despite Christian's regular claims that he just wants to come out loud and proud. But Oliver refuses to let him do so, aware of how the boxing world will see Christian as a gay and how coming out so soon will likely end his career as a boxer before it can even begin. He even endures regular harassment from Axel, a homophobic fighter who is the main competitor of Christian. After Christian wins his first professional fight against Axel, he comes out by kissing Oliver in the ring. After the celebration, Oliver is brutally attacked by Axel and despite being dismissed as healthy at the hospital, a few days later he suffers a brain hemorrage as a consequence of the attack and undergoes brain surgery to save his life.

The next hard test of their relationship comes from Rob, a successful party planner that bonds with Oliver by planning events at Oliver's bar, No Limits, while secretly attempting to use it as a drug dealing joint. At the same time, he attempts to seduce Oliver, who dismisses Christian's suspicion about Rob as mere jealousy. Christian attempts to prove Oliver that he's right about Rob. But Oliver refuses to believe it, even when NoLimits gets raided by the police when being tipped off by any anonymous call that someone witnessed drugs being exchanged there, Oliver even believes Christian set the whole thing up, much to Christian's anger and frustration. At the same time, Oliver starts to doubt that Christian is really attracted to him and begins suspecting that he's into women again, this being fueled when Rebecca von Lahnstein falls in love with Christian and eventually kisses him and Christian's drunken kiss with Miriam sometime prior to it. Oliver soon asks him, bluntly, if he's into women again, causing them to consider a break up. However, after considering all the hard times they have endured together, the two decide to try fresh this time. At the end, Rebecca exposes Rob to the police, who gets arrested, and Oliver and Christian make amends thanks to a romantic trip to New York.

Christian, a little while after their trip to New York, suffers an episode of chest pain and is taken to the hospital by Andi. However, when he rushes to the hospital to learn how he is doing, Oliver is not allowed to know any details about Christian's condition as he's not a relative. When Christian goes to Sebastian von Lahnstein to file documents to fix any future health concerns for them hospital-wise as a couple, Miriam suggests marriage to Oliver as an easy fix who responds with excitement to propose to Christian and begins making plans for a romantic proposal. Oliver decorates No Limits in Valentine's Day decorations and proposes to Christian later on during the night, leaving Christian clearly shocked. He then says yes to Oliver's proposal. The two go on to start making plans for their wedding and despite having different views on a wedding - Christian wanting a small and private wedding whereas Oliver wants it to be a very big public deal, the two learn to compromise for each other.

Oliver's happiness with Christian is cut short by the sudden appearance of his ex-boyfriend Jonas, who comes to tell Oliver that he is HIV-positive and admits that he was sure he had the disease back when they were together. Oliver becomes scared he may have contracted the disease as well and later admits the dilemma to Christian. Christian tries to assure him that if he and Jonas used a condom then he may not have contracted it, but Oliver reveals it was a one-night stand and they were both drunk. Oliver then brings up the possibility to Christian that if he indeed contracted the disease, then he may have passed it on to him during their time together. The two then get Oliver tested to find out the results. After anxiously waiting, the doctor soon confirms that Oliver doesn't have HIV, much to his and Christian's relief. The two return home and while sitting in the hallway happily, Christian proposes to Oliver himself by declaring that the day proved to him even more that he never wants to lose him and that he wants to get married "sooner rather than later". Oliver and him then decide on 4 weeks from that day to get married.

On September 2010, Oliver marries Christian on a church wedding and is more than happy to be with the man he loves. After Christian comes back after a short trip with Gregor and looking after his brother's children, Christian declares he wants to have a child much to Oliver's happiness. After a failed attempt of adoption, and a failed attempt at having a child with a lesbian couple who want a rigorous schedule with the child, the two act as foster parents for a Cameroonese girl. The strain of losing her after her father takes her back to Cameroon damages their relationship, and a fight leads to Christian partying with Jessica Stiehl, who later claims both of them had sex. This triggers again Oliver's doubts about Christian's attraction to him, and calls for a break on the relationship, making Christian move out and distracting himself from his pain by partying.

Oliver then suffers another deep blow after witnessing Phillip zu Hohenfelden being hit by a car while he stopped on mid-street to greet Olli, being struck with guilt by thinking he made Phillip to stop, thus causing the accident. Guilt ridden, he shuts himself in his apartment for several days. Christian later has sex with a female coworker, adding another trouble to their relationship. After coming out of his depression, Oliver models for a publicity campaign and starts a fling with Rafael, a young man he met on Majorca during a vacation. After finally giving up on Christian, he begins a happy relationship with Rafael.

He and Christian soon agree to divorce, but later afterwards, Oliver hears from a horrified Andi that he's just been told that Christian is at the boxing ring battling against a friend of Axel's. Fearing for Christian due to his heart condition, he quickly goes to the boxing ring and arrives in time to witness Christian suffer a heart attack and collapse. The shock of truly losing Christian causes Oliver to realize that, despite all his doubts and the trouble, he still loves him. After the paramedics make several failed attempts to restart Christian's heart, Oliver believes Christian has died and leaves the boxing ring in a daze, unaware of Christian's heart starting back up again successfully as he leaves. Oliver returns home and breaks up with Rafael, telling him that all they had was an affair and that he doesn't love him. He explains that he truly loves Christian, informing him of his assumed death. Oliver wanders around the city for a bit before running into an escaped hospital patient in the same area, who tells him that she is there because she can feel her deceased husband's love there the most. He returns her to the hospital before being informed that Christian is indeed the hospital, initially thinking he is in the morgue, but is told that he is actually in intensive care and alive. Oliver immediately goes to Christian to see him and confesses that he still loves him and wants to be with him for the rest of his life. The two tenderly and happily reunite.

On 3 January 2012 Oliver and Christian get married for a second time in the cabin outside in which they first fell in love. On June 2012, Oliver loses his bar license after he unadvertedly serves alcohol to minors during a party, and he ends up selling the name rights of No Limits to Tristan and Marlene, who launch a new No Limits, keeping Olli as a manager. At the same time, he begins working as a model for Tanja von Lahnstein. On October 2012, he discovers evidence (left to him by Arno Brandner in a letter written shortly before his death) that he has a long-lost sister, and tracks her down. She is revealed to be named Bella Jacob and lives on the city of Tübingen, unaware that she's adopted.

In late 2012, Christian takes a job in England and the couple agrees to have a long distance relationship, parting ways with a sweet kiss. In September 2013 Christian returns and the couple spends many joyful moments. However, Christian announces that he has renewed his England contract for an extra year, causing friction between the two before, through misunderstanding a hospital situation when Christian gets his coat mugged and is mistaken for a critically injured person, the two make up. Despite this, their situation once again becomes wedged when Christian admits to have cheated once again with a woman during a drunken one night stand while in England, much to Oliver's devastation. Despite later returning and claiming to want an open marriage to teach Christian a lesson, when an opportunity arises to sleep with a man, Oliver is unable to go through with it. He simply begins ignoring and distancing himself from Christian, who is regularly begging for forgiveness.

When Christian finally believes it is truly over between them, he books a flight for England and prepares to leave after one last failed attempt to talk with Oliver who once again ignores him. Jessica, who is watching from the hallway, becomes exasperated with the two and locks the couple inside their room together to force them to talk, saying she'll be back from work in several hours. During this time period, Christian convinces Oliver he is truly sorry. Eventually, Oliver requests all the details of his one-night stand, saying it may make him able to forgive again. When Christian admits he doesn't remember due to being drunk the entire time, he insists nobody will ever compare to being with him because he loves him. Oliver finally forgives him and the couple make up. Oliver then agrees to go to England with Christian for a short period in order to rebuild their relationship together.

Then, after months of long-distance relationship, Oliver was under the influence of alcohol and had a one-night stand with another man. Oliver later phone Christian then flew over to see him in London. Only to come home with news of their divorce.

References