Hollyoaks confirms September return date after three month break

HOLLYOAKS has confirmed it will return on September 7 after a three month break.

The Channel 4 soap will begin airing new episodes again on the Monday night on Channel 4 and E4.

The pandemic forced the show to shutter production, but it is now back up and running.

However the return will lead to star Imran Adams' exit after he quit the show.

The actor, who plays Mitchell Deveraux, is expected to depart around the same time his character is due to marry fiance Scott Drinkwell, played by Ross Adams.

A spokeswoman for Lime Pictures, which produces the soap, said: "Imran Adams will be leaving Hollyoaks later this year at the end of his current contract."

Adams made his Hollyoaks debut as the level-headed trainee doctor in February 2019, the son of established character Martine Deveraux, played by Kelle Bryan.

He has featured in a number of major storylines including one in which he struggled with his sexuality as a gay man.

It comes after Rachel Adedeji announced her departure from the soap in June, after more than four years playing Lisa Loveday.

She previously said she had experienced racism while working on the show and that her "fellow black cast mates are deemed angry, aggressive and too vocal".

Bosses of the programme said they would bring in "unconscious bias trainers" in an effort to tackle any inequality among cast and crew.

Earlier this month Lime Pictures launched an "inclusivity action plan" which included a number of new initiatives such as a guardians scheme and hiring a Caribbean cultural adviser.

Hollyoaks has resumed production in Liverpool after filming was halted in March as the TV and film industry shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic.

New work protocols are in place to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the Channel 4 soap's cast and crew.