It’s been confirmed that actor Charlie Behan will join the long list of people departing from Hollyoaks before a big change this autumn.
The young actor, who has played Charlie Dean since 2011, is set to say goodbye to the Channel 4 soap in the coming weeks.
Charlie played a huge role in the show’s County Lines drug dealing storyline throughout 2020. The character also falsely took the blame for Jordan Price’s stabbing at The Hutch.
Last year, he was at the centre of a powerful mental health narrative that saw him attempt to end his life.
Most recently, fans of the soap have been wondering about Charlie’s future in the show, given his absences in the Frankie and JJ sibling sexual abuse story.
Sadly, it has now been confirmed Charlie will depart the soap as the mass axing of cast members carry on.
‘Charlie will be leaving Hollyoaks on screen in the coming weeks’, a source told Digital Spy.
‘It’s a sad time for his co-stars as he was a popular cast member on set and had a great relationship with the other younger cast and his on-screen family, the Osbornes.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Hollyoaks for a comment.
Earlier this week, it was also confirmed Richard Blackwood has left the show as Felix Westwood.
News of these departures come just weeks before a huge moment for Hollyoaks, which will see the soap jump forward in time.
The Channel 4 show is adopting the new scheduling pattern after research indicated that this is the optimum amount of episodes for audiences.
Fans were left heartbroken by the prospect of less outings of their favourite show – but more sad news followed, with a number of major cast members confirmed to be exiting in order to facilitate the changes.
Hollyoaks will see in its new era with a stunt week kicking things off on Monday, September 9, with the following week (Monday, September 16) seeing the soap skip forward a year.
And, with faces set to disappear before and during the jump, viewers are desperate to know which characters are going and which are staying.
There have been a few shocks already in this respect. Stephanie Waring – who played one of TV’s most iconic characters in Cindy Cunningham for 28 years – confirmed that her character was one of those axed, news which left fans in shock.
Metro, meanwhile, confirmed that Matthew James Bailey, who plays Ethan Williams is set to exit in the coming months.
Jon-Paul Bell, Ross Adams and Glynis Barber have already been written out as Beau Ramsey, Scott Drinkwell and Norma Crow respectively, with their exit stories having proven divisive with fans, while Jamie Lomas – who plays Warren Fox – will depart soon as part of a huge gangster narrative.
So yes, suffice to say Hollyoaks will look very different come September without the aforementioned stars.
