What happened to the original Hollyoaks cast

Channel 4's Hollyoaks was the ultimate teen soap when it first aired in the '90s. Targeted at a younger audience, the show started with a modest cast of just 15, which grew to 50 as its popularity soared.

Hollyoaks has since been crowned Best British Soap twice at the British Soap Awards, breaking the 15-year winning streak held by EastEnders and Coronation Street with its initial victory in 2014.

Set in a make-believe suburb of Chester, the show spotlighted attractive, sun-kissed twenty-somethings, balancing serious topics like drugs, sexual abuse and cancer with ample doses of humour. While some stars of the programme went on to thrive in their acting careers, others embarked on entirely different journeys. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter

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Will Mellor

Will Mellor, who played the laid-back Jack-the-Lad Jambo in Hollyoaks, was one of the soap's most popular original characters. The actor joined the show at 19 and stayed for three years before moving on to Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps in 2001.

Now aged 48, Will continues to enjoy a successful acting career, with roles in Broadchurch and Line of Duty. In 2021, he joined the cast of Coronation Street as drug gangster Harvey Gaskell, a role he held for nearly two years.

He also had a stint on Strictly Come Dancing, finishing 11th in 2022. "I am so grateful to Hollyoaks," said Will, who is married to dancer Michelle McSween and has two children, Jayden and Renee. "I'll always be in debt to that show. It was the show that changed my life."

Nick Pickard

Nick Pickard, 49, has been portraying Tony Hutchinson since the inception of Hollyoaks, with his character enduring testicular cancer and surviving a hostage situation at the hands of serial killer Breda McQueen. In 2017, he was honoured with the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Nick initially committed to just 26 episodes of the soap but expressed to Digital Spy his desire for the show to continue indefinitely. "I love the show and love the people more than anything - they're like my family," he shared.

In 2023, Nick ventured into the reality TV jungle by joining the cast of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, describing it as an 'opportunity of a lifetime'. His stay was cut short as he became the fourth contestant to leave, while Made In Chelsea's Sam Thompson ultimately took the crown.

Nick's romantic history includes a year-long relationship in 2001 with Joanna Taylor, his ex-Hollyoaks colleague who played Geri Hudson. He is currently in a long-term relationship with his partner Sarah Corrin, and together they have a grown-up daughter named Ellie.

Jeremy Edwards

Jeremy Edwards, who portrayed Kurt Benson on the show for three years, experienced a rollercoaster of storylines including a tumultuous love life and an intense rivalry with the nefarious Rob Hawthorne. Fans were devastated when they thought Kurt had died in a jet ski mishap overseas, but it turned out he was actually evading trouble. In 2020, Kurt made a dramatic return to the village on his motorbike, stunning his friend Tony.

Reflecting on his return to the series after two decades, Jeremy commented on the challenges posed by the pandemic: "I was supposed to be there for six months to a year but COVID impacted that massively," he explained. "There was so many restrictions with filming that I couldn't go near anyone and I only had one storyline."

Following his initial run on the show, Jeremy took on the role of student nurse Danny Shaughnessy in Holby City and participated in reality shows such as The X Factor: Celebrity and Celebrity Big Brother. The actor was once engaged to S Club 7's Rachel Stevens but tied the knot with Lydia Metz in 2009, with whom he has two children, Scarlett and Theodore.

With acting opportunities dwindling during lockdown, the 53-year-old decided to part ways with his agent and has since taken up a position as a drama teacher, admitting that he 'never enjoyed being famous'. "There are so many reasons why you can be out of work and I thought, this is so unpredictable and I have a family," he shared with the Sun. "I thought I've got thirty years of experience here, what am I doing?"

Lisa Williamson

Dawn was the first member of the long-running Cunningham family to appear on Hollyoaks and was at the centre of many hard-hitting storylines, including an unwanted teenage pregnancy after sleeping with her best friend Ruth's dad Jack. Actress Lisa appeared on the show for two years and went onto star in Dream Team and Siren's Bay.

But the performer turned largely to voice acting on commercial adverts and she became a published author too. Her debut novel The Art of Being Normal was a bestseller which won the 2017 Waterstones Children's Book Prize for best older fiction.

Shebah Ronay

Known as the Hollyoaks poster girl, Natasha Anderson was the first character to meet her end in the soap, dying after her drink was spiked with an ecstasy tablet. This plotline came a year after the tragic real-life death of Leah Betts, who passed away after consuming an ecstasy tablet on her 18th birthday.

Shebah, now 53, later featured in the 1998 film Things We Do for Love before transitioning into a career in modelling, presenting, and journalism. She's married to artist Jonathan Yeo and they have two children together. She has also served as the inspiration for several of her husband's artworks.

Yasmin Bannerman

Maddie Parker, a restaurant owner character in the show, was played by Yasmin who remained in the background for two years until a gripping storyline involving her stalker ex brought her to the limelight. Post her exit from the show, Yasmin featured in Merseybeat and Torchwood.

The 53-year-old actress also portrayed Jessica in the original series of Cold Feet, where her character had an affair with the married financier David. Her filmography includes Maybe Baby and Killing Me Softly.

Brett O'Brien

Louise Taylor, the free-spirited best friend of Dawn and Natasha, claimed to have seen Natasha's ghost following her death. The character's stint on Hollyoaks was brief, lasting only eight months before she left the show after falling for hippy traveller Tree. Brett later starred in Wire in the Blood, William and Mary, and Law And Order: UK.