Hollyoaks reveals who is staying and leaving as sad deaths are confirmed

The brand new era of Hollyoaks is upon us, with the Channel 4 soap marking its brand new three-episode-a-week pattern with a historic time jump.

The long-running serial was forced to drop two weekly offerings and axe approximately 20 cast members in order to facilitate the changes, with bosses resolving to take the action one year into the future.

Fans have been desperate to find out what the time jump will entail, in particularly which cast members would staying – and more importantly, which would be exiting.

Monday’s edition of the Channel 4 soap officially kicked off the time jump – and quite a lot has changed in the Chester village over the past twelve months, though the events of the stunt week having left a tragic mark.

Here’s all of the confirmed cast changes as Hollyoaks’ new chapter begins.

Who has stayed?

As predicted, the McQueen clan made it through the time jump largely unscathed in terms of numbers, with Mercedes (Jennifer Metcalfe), Cleo (Nadine Mulkerrin), Theresa (Jorgie Porter), Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer), John Paul (James Sutton), Kathleen-Angel (Kiara Mellor) and Myra-Pocahontas (Neave Mullen) all still present.

The Hutchinsons too have managed to avoid losing any key characters. Diane (Alex Fletcher), who viewers speculated might become a casualty of the time jump, will remain, which will no doubt come as a relief.

Tony (Nick Pickard), Ant, Dee and Ro (Ava Webster) are also still accounted for.

The Blakes, who were the subject of a controversial and contentious story retcon last month, aren’t going anywhere either with Sienna (Anna Passey), Dilly Harcourt (Emma Johnsey-Smith), Liberty Savage (Jessamy Stoddart) and Jeremy (Jeremy Sheffield) all set to continue on the show, in addition to Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson).

Ethan Williams (Matthew James Bailey) has also noticeably – and quite unexpectedly – made through the time jump, which will come as a delight to fans, given that Metro confirmed the character’s exit earlier this year.

The owner of The Loft is frustratingly still expected to exit, despite fans finally getting their wish in the form of his rekindled romance with Sienna.

We just can’t have nice things, can we?

Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson), who was blown up in a car last time we saw him, has somehow managed to survive the incident with no life-altering injuries and therefore will remain on the show.

Leela and Joel Dexter (Kirsty-Leigh Porter and Rory Douglas-Speed), plus Peri Lomax (Ruby O’Donnell) and Abe Fielding (Tyler Conti), are also confirmed to stay, as are Grace Black (Tamara Wall), Freddie and Robbie Rescoe (Charlie Clapham and Charlie Wernham), as well as Rex Gallagher (Jonny Labey).

Dillon Ray (Nathaniel Dass) is also still present.

Fans will likely be concerned about Lucas Hay’s (Oscar Curtis) absence during the first episode but it seems there’s more to his whereabouts than meets the eye.

Leah Barnes (Ela-May Demircan), who delivered a baby thought to Charlie’s, also made it through the time jump, though it has been confirmed that she will exit soon, so don’t expect to see her on screens for very long.

Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi), Donny Clark (Louis Emerick) and his daughter Vicky (Anya Lawrence) are also planning on sticking around.

There was a major question mark around Jack Osborne’s (Jimmy McKenna) fate after he was injured during the motorbike crash but, thankfully, he pulled through, with the character set to remain on the show with partner Pearl Anderson (Dawn Hope).

Pearl’s granddaughter Zoe (Garcia Brown) is also a mainstay moving forward – and she’s engaged to Prince. The twin brother of her former fiancé Hunter, who died.

That’s not bizarre at all.

Fans will be pleased to know that the Osbornes predominantly remain in tact, with Darren (Ashley Taylor Dawson) and Nancy (Jessica Fox) still present, as is Frankie (Isabelle Smith). Abuser JJ (Ryan Mulvey) will remain on the show in some capacity given that Frankie is seeking justice for what he put her through.

Charlie, however… well that’s another story.

Who has left?

While a few fan-favourites remain, there were unfortunately quite a few casualties of Hollyoaks’ new era, as confirmed in Monday’s offering.

James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan) has – much like audiences predicted – perished in the car explosion.

The character, much like Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring), was bafflingly axed by the show, which left fans fuming.

James’ death was confirmed in the time jump episode, with Leah and Leela visiting his grave to mark one year of his passing.

Suzanne Ashworth (Suzanne Hall) also perished in the stunt week and, similarly, her loved ones paid tribute to her a year on from her death.

Other departures include Andre Clark (David Joshua-Anthony), who was confirmed to be no longer living in the village. Vicky told Leah that she was speaking to him on the phone to update him about Donny’s plan to propose to Misbah.

As I mentioned before, pretty much every McQueen remains on the show – with the exception of one of their greatest. Sally St Claire (Annie Wallace) has left the village, with Mercedes revealing that she’s currently residing in Alicante.