Stars of Hollyoaks: Where are they now?

OB even went back to uni


Everyone had their reasons for tuning on Channel 4 on a school night.

For some it was the complex story lines about step sisters and brothers who accidentally sleep with each other or lesbian skydiving accidents.

For others it was for this year’s hot blonde always gracing the cover of Nuts.

Whatever your reasons, there’s no denying Hollyoaks is the teen drama of our generation. Its stars are long suffering, good looking but also completely real and genuine. We felt their pain.

So what happened to the stars of our favourite soap? We found out.

Rhys Ashworth

Rhys grew stubble started an Instagram account

Bad boy Rhys was killed off in 2012, but came back as part of Cindy Cunningham’s bipolar storyline.

Since leaving Hollyoaks actor Andy Moss has had a one off part in Casualty, briefly turned up on Coronation Street and was even in a pantomime of Beauty and the Beast in Liverpool.

Now he Tweets a lot about the 90s and posts a quite a few selfies on his Instagram.

He’s also the singer in a rock band called Empire, which explains the sunglasses.

Calvin Valentine

Calvin bulked up in a big way

Calvin was tragically shot by Teresa McQueen in 2010 and made a final appearance the show a year later as a ghost.

Actor Ricky Whittle has now hit the gym hard and swapped Chester for LA, where he now stars in US end of the world drama The 100 and pulls off a pretty good American accent.

But he still says he’d come back for another part in Hollyoaks, admitting “I’d probably sneak across for a little guest role” earlier this year.

Hannah Ashworth

Hannah went to Hollywood

Emma Rigby, who played schoolgirl Hannah Ashworth, also swapped Hollyoaks for Hollywood.

Since leaving the soap five years ago she’s starred alongside Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz in the 2013 film The Counselor.

Currently Emma is working on Actors Anonymous which is based on James Franco’s 2013 series of connected short stories about actors in Los Angeles.

Izzy Davies

Izzy has mostly stayed out the spotlight

After Hollyoaks, Elize Du Toit briefly turned up  on Doctor Who and Coronation Street.

Now she’s married to Life of Pi actor Rafe Spall and has two children called Lena and Rex.

Elize occasionally appears in short films from time to time but mostly stays out the spotlight.

Newt

Next wasn’t actually emo in real life

In the show, Emo Newt moved to Scotland when he left Chester in 2010.

But in real life actor Nico Mirallegro insisted he was nothing like the character and even wore a wig with fake lip piercings.

He played Finn in My Mad Fat Diary as the main love interest and has since been working on short films and BBC TV movies.

OB

OB has gone back to uni

Darren Jeffries was a big hit in the mid 2000s after leaving the show as OB.

He did Channel 4’s V Festival coverage, had his own chart show on T4 and also guest presented The Gadget Show.

After a big break from acting, OB has now gone back to uni to study at the Manchester School of Acting where he still gets recognised from time to time.

Max Cunningham

Matt Littler who played Max stopped acting after leaving Hollyoaks

One of the longest running characters in Hollyoaks and OB’s best mate, Matt Littler left the acting game not long after leaving the show.

Matt founded a production company called “Roll Camera” and now directs short films in Liverpool.

Bombhead

Bombhead

Winner of the best nickname on the show, Bombhead left in 2005 and then turned up again for Hollyoaks: Freshers in 2011.

Actor Lee Otway has kept busy, forming a band named Diversify in Leeds, touring on a comedy soap opera play and appearing in the BBC show The Syndicate this year.

The great hair and bright shirts seem to have gone forever though.

Kris Fisher

Kris turned into a Shakespearean actor

Gerard McCarthy (Kris) quit the show in 2010, and has since tried to be taken more seriously as a Shakespearean actor at The Globe, and even travelled to LA and New York.

He claims he is constantly referred to as the “Irish Kanye” and is currently back in his homeland with a one-man show strangely named “Cat – the play”.

Sasha Valentine

Sasha went from Hollyoaks to Game of Thrones

Since leaving Hollyoaks, Nathalie has arguably had the most success.

She bagged a role in Game of Thrones, played a big part in Fast and Furious 7 last year and was in Maze runner which came out in September.

Also FHM ranked Nathalie as 99th in their “100 Sexiest Women of 2013”, which is probably an achievement.

Despite all the attention, she was apparently unimpressed by fans who paid £35,000 to party with her in a London nightclub back in July.

Tina McQueen

Now Tina runs a clothing boutique in Manchester

The quietest McQueen, Tina – played by Leah Hackett – left Hollyoaks in 2008.

She’s acted a bit here and there and landed a brief role as a police officer in fellow northern soap Coronation Street.

Tina has since been on CBBC kids dramas and been in pantos, but has mostly been focusing on running her clothing boutique “The Closet” in Manchester.

Jacqui McQueen

Jacqui McQueen is now in a biblical drama

Actress Claire Cooper co-owns “The Closet” clothing boutique with her former on-screen sister Leah Hackett.

Since leaving Hollyoaks for the last time in 2010, Claire starred in the American biblical drama “AD: The Bible Continues”, which couldn’t be any more different to her time playing Jacqui McQueen.