Hollyoaks favourite axed after years on screen - as soap kills off string of big characters
Channel 4's Hollyoaks has seen yet another star exit, with Zain Rizwaan star Jonas Khan leaving the soap. The actor, who has played Zain on the show for the last two years, is the latest Hollyoaks star to depart the cast after a number of major exits.
Ross Adams (Scott Drinkwell), Jamie Lomas (Warren Fox) and Lily Best (Lizzie Chen-Williams) recently left the soap - with Tuesday's episode marking Lily's last as the character. OK! has reached out to Channel 4 for comment.
Jonas joined the soap in February 2022 as Maalik family's Imam, offering support and advice to Imran - played by Ijaz Rana - in particular when he lost his faith. He became a regular fixture at the Maalik household, where he grew close to Misbah (Harvey Virdi).
The pair eventually married in a surprise turn after Nadira Valli (Ashling O'Shea) and Shaq Qureshi (Omar Malik) called off their wedding. However, Jonas' exit comes after Zain's recent stroke - which he has been recovering from at Dee Valley hospital over the last few weeks.
After Zain's marriage to Misbah hit the rocks, Zain overheard his wife admitting to Sharon Bailey (Jamelia) that the spark in their relationship had gone. Despite trying to save their marriage, Zain was dealt another blow when Misbah confessed to kissing lodger Donny (Louis Emerick) - which resulted in his stroke.
While we don't yet know how Zain will leave the soap, upcoming episodes will see the much-loved character confront Donny over the kiss with his wife once he leaves hospital.
Hollyoaks has seen a number of stars leave the soap over the last few months, however several cast members have been axed ahead of the show's move to three episodes per week in September. Cindy Cunningham star Stephanie Waring confirmed last month that she had been cut from the show.
The soap star revealed that she "begged" producers not to axe her character after playing Cindy for over 30 years. "I was being drip fed the names of the people who were going, and I remember crying at one of them, and I had this gut feeling that I would be too", the 46 year old shared.
Clinging to hope, Stephanie recalled signing "a year-long contract" just before her world was turned upside down. "Everyone was telling me I would be fine as I'm an original character," she said. She added that she was "very distraught" to learn that her long-standing role in the Chester-set drama wouldn't keep her safe.
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 7:30pm on Channel 4's streaming service and airs at 7pm nightly on E4.
