25 things you probably didn’t know about Hollyoaks

Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks has viewers on the edge of their seats at the moment with the McQueen blackmail storyline as the soap celebrates it's 25th anniversary!

With the likes of Jorgie Porter and Jeremy Edwards making shock returns to the soap, we've found some facts about the soap which first hit our TV screens way back in 1995.

1. Tony Hutchinson is the longest running character, he first appeared in the soap way back in 1995 when it first started!

2. We may be used to Hollyoaks Monday-Friday now, but back when the show first started it only aired once a week!

3. In 2003 Hollyoaks was the only show to be nominated in every single category at the British Soap Awards.

4. Unbelievably, the show saved a life back in 2007. After portraying a carbon monoxide poisoning story, one viewer realised she had the same symptoms and later discovered she had a carbon monoxide leak in her home.

5. The Lomax family were named after Doctor Who characters, Peri, Rose, Leela and Tegan.

6. Freddie Roscoe’s leather jacket was the most expensive item of clothing worn by a cast member. The jacket cost £400 from All Saints.

7. The first death in the soap came in 1996 when Natasha Andersen collapsed in a nightclub after having her drink spiked.

8. The soap has had a number of serial killers, Lynsey and Silas to name a few. But the most recent was Breda McQueen, who killed Russ Owen, Glenn Donovan, Mac Nightingale, Sylver's dad, Carl Costello and Louis Loveday.

9. The first show had zero dialogue for the first five minutes.

10. The wardrobe department has 14 different baby bump sizes!

11. The sweets in price slice are real, but the alcohol is fake!

12. The soap was the first to tackle a number of story lines. Hollyoaks was the first to portray a male rape story line, anorexia, a gay wedding and a gay character to be HIV positive. Most recently Hollyoaks were praised for tackling far right extremism in the UK.

13. The Roscoe brothers were named after famous pop stars. Robbie (Williams), Freddie (Mercury), Ziggy (Stardust), Jason (Orange) and Joe (Cocker).

Unfortunately, they've all now left the soap.

14. Many celebrities have appeared in the soap including James Corden, Girls Aloud, Cat Deely, Boy George, Alison Hammond and Rick Astley.

15. Grace’s hairpiece takes a massive two hours to wash, dress and curl and then a further 40 minutes to style onto her head!

16. If a cast member has a holiday planned, the makeup department gradually apply fake tan to them so when they come back, the change in skin tone isn’t obvious.

17. Mercedes McQueen has the biggest wardrobe collection out of every single cast member.

18. The show goes through an incredible 25-30 sets of eyelashes per week!

19. Carmel McQueen’s sun lamp burn was the hardest accident to achieve. As well as weeks of prosthetics it also took a massive three hours to put onto Gemma Merna’s face.

20. A man called Jack Reynolds become the oldest ever person to appear in Hollyoaks, playing himself at the amazing age of 107! Sadly, Jack passed away in April 2020 after attending the British Soap Awards with the cast earlier in the year.

21. Holly Cunningham was the first Hollyoaks baby when Cindy gave birth in 1997.

22. Actor Ellis Hollins first joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Tom Cunningham at the age of just three!

23. A lot of former musicians have landed job roles in Hollyoaks, including Duncan James from Blue, and most recently, Ray Quinn!

24. The cast of Hollyoaks have taken part in Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me twice, the first to celebrate the soap's 20th anniversary in 2015, and again in October 2020, to celebrate the soap's 25th anniversary!

25. Hollyoaks has created a number of real life couples, including Nadine Mulkerrin and Rory Douglas Speed, and Emmett J. Scanlan and Claire Cooper.

Check out which other Hollyoaks couples found love on set:

Happy 25th Birthday Hollyoaks! 🎉

Hollyoaks currently airs every Monday-Thursday on Channel 4 at 6.30pm.

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• Hollyoaks