Hollyoaks reveals how huge cast cuts will unfurl with brutal one-year time jump to ‘fast-forward’ stars out of soap

LIFE in Chester will never be the same for viewers after soap boss Hannah Cheers announced a plethora of upcoming changes.

Hollyoaks fans will have to wave goodbye to some of their favourite characters as a one-year time jump will push them out of the village.

Life in Hollyoaks is due for a massive shake-up this autumnCredit: Lime Pictures

The soap will no longer be airing five times a weekCredit: © 2023 ean flanders.©

And soap favourites will booted out following a one-year time jumpCredit: RAY BURMISTON

The Channel 4 and E4 drama airs from Monday to Friday on both channels at 6:30 and 7pm.

But from September onwards, the schedule will be subjected to a major shake-up, which will also affect the show's iconic line-up.

Hollyoaks' executive producer Hannah Cheers recently confirmed that the program will undergo a one-year time jump during its autumn stunt week in September before being reduced from five episodes a week to only three.

The "lost year" storyline, as announced in an official statement by Hannah, will sadly involve waving "goodbye to some much-loved Hollyoaks villagers - and some earlier than we would have expected to."

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"When we started talking about the move to three episodes a week, we realised we needed a mechanism through which to transition our stories and characters and we kept coming back to this one", Hannah explained.

"It’s bold, daring and is a first for a UK soap, it sums Hollyoaks up perfectly."

While some fan favourites could be given the boot in upcoming months, Hannah Cheers added that the three-instalment pattern will allow viewers to "see characters on screen for much longer."

"Our viewers are really smart; in order to serve them well, we need to kick off this new structure in a meaningful way."

"Fast-forwarding the show permanently by a year presents us with unlimited story possibilities."

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"We are now a streaming-first soap and can lean into less-restricting and conventional structures."

Speaking about the job cuts within the show's line-up, Hannah added that "reducing the team in size is a tough consequence of this transition."

"It’s not kind to our characters or our audience to have a drawn-out stream of goodbyes on screen, and a heightened stunt didn’t feel like the right approach."

"We also want the flexibility to see favourite characters again and we got really excited about how this would work."

“We believe this creative approach will celebrate the uniqueness of Hollyoaks and will serve and honour our amazing characters."

Hollyoaks is due to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2025.

The news of a schedule reduction was welcomed with shock as the show temporarily shut down filming to give the Hollyoaks cast time to digest the bombshell.

Following the announcement, multiple unions issued their own statements about the change, with the head of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu) deeming this decision "a huge loss for the whole sector."

In recent months, the Hollyoaks line-up has already been subjected to changes as many characters have either met a tragic end, in the likes of teen Ella Richardson and Rafe Harcourt, or simply started afresh away from the eponymous village.