Exclusive: Hollyoaks boss shares 14 huge secrets and spoilers (2024)

Hollyoaks spoilers follow.

Hollyoaks will undergo one of the biggest changes in its 29-year history this September as the show's timeline jumps forward by a year, marking the beginning of a new era.

The long-running soap will scale back from five weekly episodes to three from the autumn, which has sadly led to a reduction in cast, crew and scriptwriters.

In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Hollyoaks' executive producer Hannah Cheers has now shared some early behind-the-scenes gossip and teasers for what to expect as we head into the autumn and beyond.

The time jump was first considered two years ago

Hollyoaks bosses decided to create the one-year time jump twist to help explain upcoming cast departures and mark the beginning of the new era, but it's not the first time that such a move has been considered.

Cheers told us: "When we knew that we were going to three episodes per week, we revisited a pitch from [Hollyoaks scriptwriter] James Coleman from a couple of years ago, which was to do a flashforward in time.

"It all started fitting together when we were having conversations about how we were logistically going to manage the reduction in episodes and cast. We weighed up the pros and cons of it, but I got really excited about it.

"There are going to be people who criticise it and I totally know that, but myself and the rest of the team have been using our instincts to guide us. We know what the show is and what we love about it. So if we feel it, we know the audience will feel it too."

The autumn stunt wasn't part of the original plan

Hollyoaks will kick off September with a bang as a huge stunt week airs. This paves the way for the time jump a few episodes later – but in the original storyline plans, there wasn't an explosive spectacle to look forward to.

In behind-the-scenes meetings, bosses at Channel 4 subsequently encouraged the Hollyoaks team to incorporate a stunt after seeing the success of January's car pile-up disaster, which had created several new compelling storyline arcs.

Cheers commented: "There were certain stories that we were running anyway, and we were already engineering those towards an autumn story peak as that's what we traditionally do. So the stories that we run across this summer are a catalyst for what happens in the stunt.

"The time jump itself was initially going to be 'the stunt', but the channel is now really excited about everything we're doing.

"[Channel 4's Chief Content Officer] Ian Katz is buzzing about the show, which is an amazing place for us to be. They are so supportive and so behind the show – I'm so reassured by their level of support and love for it across Channel 4.

"The channel decided that they wanted us to do what we'd done in January again, which was the biggest compliment."

The on-screen changes begin from September 9

The week commencing Monday, September 2 will be Hollyoaks' final one in a five-episodes format.

The new schedule premieres from Monday, September 9, starting with the unmissable stunt week.

Cheers told us: "We had to think about whether the stunt would come first or the flashforward. We tried every which way of working through.

"The stunt element is now the first week of three episodes, starting from September 9. The stunt week plays out across those three continuous episodes.

"Then we come back the next week – from Monday, September 16 – and it's a year later."

Warren and Blue's story will take centre stage in stunt week

Hollyoaks' biggest mystery of the summer is the identity of Blue, the unknown gangster who's launched a twisted mission to make Warren Fox's life a misery.

The unknown individual's identity will be revealed to viewers in the coming weeks, but Warren will stay in the dark for a while yet.

Cheers said: "One of the stories running into the stunt week is Warren's exit story. Across the summer, we will have played the mystery of Blue.

"Warren has been completely tormented and his life has been destroyed by Blue, who has been hidden in plain sight. In the week of the stunt, Blue is still threatening Warren's life and it's a game of cat and mouse.

"Mercedes and Warren are central in that week as they try their best to evade Blue – and Warren makes a big decision over what's most important to him…"

Abe and Cleo will feature in stunt week

Abe's abuse of Cleo will continue to escalate over the summer, building up to their own dramatic role in the stunt week.

Cheers confirmed: "Abe's abuse of Cleo increases and it becomes physically abusive. His coercive control also really ramps up.

"It gets to the point where, after Abe does something horrific to her, Cleo has a major decision to make in the stunt week."

Ste's betrayal will be revealed

Fan favourite Ste made a terrible mistake recently when he hooked up with dangerous newcomer Rex in the court toilets on the day of his hearing, where he expected to receive a lengthy jail sentence for killing Ella.

Ste immediately regretted his actions when he walked free, kicking himself for betraying his husband James.

Cheers teased: "There's a hot, dangerous connection between Ste and Rex. At some point, James will have to find out that Ste cheated on him with Rex.

"They're involved in the big week too and we tease through the three episodes who might be in danger."

Frankie will break her silence

As announced recently, Hollyoaks' sibling sexual abuse story featuring JJ and Frankie will be resolved during the summer. Frankie will bravely confide in her father Darren in emotional scenes airing in August.

JJ will be forced to face the consequences of his actions, leaving the Osborne family in turmoil as they try to pick up the pieces.

Cheers said: "Frankie discloses over the summer that she's been abused by JJ. We play all of the seriousness and heartache of that. Of course, Darren and Nancy totally believe Frankie.

"It's kept within the family at first, but Freddie later finds out that Lexi is going to be talked to by the police and social services. Any child that has had contact with JJ will be spoken to.

"That leads to it being revealed to everyone in the village – and Frankie is horrified once everyone else knows."

How the time jump will work

While Neighbours has shown that a time jump can work without too many problems, the technique is a first for UK soaps and fans still have a few questions over whether Hollyoaks will be permanently set in the future.

Cheers joked: "My thoughts on this are, at Hollyoaks we don't count weekends so it's basically still 2015! So basically it can be whenever we want it to be!

"We are jumping 12 months in the future, right to the day. But we won't reference exactly what year it is – to be honest, we never do that anyway.

"There's something so delicious about doing this time jump, in terms of the mysteries it can create. I love watching a brand-new series where you wonder what all of the characters are going to be doing as it progresses.

"That idea is so tantalising, so any other obstacle there might be is one that we take lightly and a bit tongue-in-cheek."

The time jump will come with twists

As you'd naturally expect with Hollyoaks, the time jump is being used to its full potential with the introduction of new twists, surprises and mysteries.

Cheers confirmed: "There are probably three hooks – or big moments – that come with the time jump.

"There are a lot of new elements in the first episode back, which will pick up from things that had been teased a couple of weeks earlier, before the time jump. Those will have been loosely built to.

"Then you're in a whole new era. There'll be some active questions that you'll want the answers to when we come back to the show. But the fact that we're jumping forward poses that question of: where are these people in a year's time?"

How will the exits work?

It's no secret that Hollyoaks will continue to reduce its cast in the coming weeks, with more characters set to leave. Some will depart as part of the jump ahead in time – as they will have left the village during the 'year away' – while others will head off before and afterwards.

Asked whether many of the departing cast will get on-screen exits, Cheers replied: "Not everybody will, because we'll now have shorter episodes, so there isn't as much room and we can't facilitate it for all.

"Of course, some will get on-screen exits because you can't not for certain characters. But physically – with the time we have to tell stories – it would be four strands of every episode being characters leaving for different reasons. How many job offers can people get in far-flung corners of the world and decide they're leaving?

"So there's a balance and it's very story-led. It's whether it fits with a story that we're telling going forward, or if it's something that's going to impact on other characters.

"The most important thing is that it's the strongest, best version of the show possible and we're focusing on stories that are hooking everybody in. The characters need to have stories that exemplify and showcase the best of Hollyoaks and that has to be the number one priority."

Frankie's story will continue after the time jump

While JJ's abuse of Frankie will be revealed in the coming weeks, it's not the end of the story and it will continue to feature following the 12-month time jump.

Cheers explained: "One of the biggest questions we had to ask was: which stories are we most passionate about taking forward?

"The sexual abuse story was one of the biggest ones for me. I'm so passionate about it and how the team have delivered it. The actors have handled it so sensitively.

"There are so many nuances and parts of that story that need to be told. We couldn't just close the door on this and end it, so we've found a new way through, showing a new dilemma as part of that story and that's a really interesting prospect."

The episodes will be all killer, no filler

Another change coming to Hollyoaks is that episodes will run for 20 minutes in the new format.

Cheers told us: "It's now 18 and a half minutes of new footage per episode, plus a 'previously on', titles and credits. Currently, it's 22 or 23 minutes, so it's a four-and-a-half-minute difference.

"Everything has to be so much tighter now. It is essentially going to be all killer and no filler. Not literally, just in terms of every single scene driving story. That's what makes me excited, because every story and character has absolutely earned their place and is firing on all cylinders.

"But having our balance of tone is also essential. We absolutely will not lose our heart and humour, they are central to every story that we play and are the hallmark of every soap.

"With every story we've got on the board at the moment for the first weeks of three episodes, you just can't take your eyes off the show. Every single story is up there, so my hope is that it's going to be the absolute best premium version of Hollyoaks."

Characters will disappear less often

One frequent complaint among Hollyoaks fans is that characters can disappear for weeks in the middle of a big storyline.

This is due to the way that Hollyoaks is filmed – a single-camera format, which takes much longer for the cast and crew compared to other soaps.

Cheers revealed: "In order to facilitate delivering five episodes every week, we had to have five crews filming at the same time. So if you're a character like Mercedes, you could only really appear in seven to nine consecutive episodes. Then we had to look away from them for two and a half weeks.

"Of course, even with that gap, the cast would still be in every single day shooting from 8am to 8pm! It's just that it takes so much longer to film than it does on other shows.

"That's always frustrated us because the audience want to see their favourite characters. I remember working on Corrie for the first time and was shocked that you could have characters like David and Carla in so many episodes. It's the same at Emmerdale.

"It's so difficult, especially when you're telling really big stories and have to park them for a bit. A character would look with murderous intent and then do nothing about it for two weeks! But it was just part of the way that we had to tell stories and you had to find logical ways through it.

"Now we're only going to have two crews shooting per day, which means that a character can actually be in every single episode. Of course, they won't always be because we have to mix stories up, but you can basically stick with a story and follow it without looking away from it.

"We'll still be filming five days a week, 51 and a half weeks a year, in order to deliver three episodes every single week.

"Now our problem is we have an embarrassment of riches because there are so many stories that we want to play. It's a great problem to have! We have the best long-term plan and our story cupboard is stocked full. We've got our full year of 2025 planned with all of these stories that we're ready to tell, but we just need to pace ourselves to fit them all in."

There are set changes ahead – with an unpopular location changed

Hollyoaks will undergo further set changes over the next few months, hot on the heels of the McQueens opening their new tapas restaurant.

Their strange house in the middle of the village – which fans never really warmed to – will switch back to another restaurant location later in the year, just like in the old days when it was home to The Hutch.

Cheers said: "There will be a couple of domestic sets that we retire. Some parts of the school we'll see less. To be honest, I haven't fully made a decision about that yet. We've got it if we need it, but we probably won't be there as much.

"It might be that, as time goes on and we start figuring out the new production model more, we might have to retire more areas. But apart from a couple of domestic ones, we're still going to be all over the village as we knew it.

"I've just changed the gym to Casa McQueen, which looks fantastic. I can't wait to see the McQueens dancing on the table tops at their Spanish tapas bar.

"The McQueens' house in the village is also going to go back to being a restaurant. That won't be there in time for the flashforward because we need more time to build it. But the McQueens are moving into the old 20-somethings' house – that will be the McQueens' gaff.

"There'll also be a couple of new facades in the village – new units."

Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.

Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.

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