Hollyoaks star Gregory Finnegan has explained why his character, James Nightingale, keeps disappearing from the village. Despite making a sensational comeback as part of the Channel 4 soap’s 30th anniversary, James hasn’t featured regularly since.
The slippery lawyer made an unannounced return in October, with the beloved character previously thought to have been deceased after seemingly being caught in a car explosion the previous September.
He eventually found his way back to former flame Ste Hay, who is currently engaged to Rex Gallagher. James also helped Lucas, Ste’s troubled son, escape from incarceration in a daring prison plot.
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Despite having plenty of reason to forge a new life in Cheshire, James has only appeared intermittently since his shock comeback, and Finnegan explained why this was the case in a piece with The i Paper.
The actor revealed that he had taken up a job as a drama teacher since his prior departure from the soap, but was surprisingly called by producers who wanted to resurrect the character as part of the 30th anniversary.
“It felt exactly like an ex getting in touch at the precise moment you’ve finally moved on,” he recalled. “Initially it was just one day of shooting. Then it was half‑term. Then the Christmas holidays.”
“It has been a bit manic – teaching by day, resurrecting myself by night – but genuinely joyful to see so many old pals again, and the school couldn’t have been more supportive,” he added.
The actor didn’t specify what the future holds for himself or James, so it remains to be seen if the character will play a further part in the soap’s various storylines throughout the rest of the year.
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While Finnegan remained tight-lipped about his future, his co-star and former on-screen husband Kieron Richardson – who portrays Ste – recently discussed the move which saw the soap reduce its weekly episode count from five to three.
“To be honest, it’s been amazing,” he said. “The viewing figures have gone up and it’s [created] a greater appetite for the show… I feel like going down to three episodes, that Wednesday one is always like the biggest hook to rein you in for the Monday episode.”
Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming premiere at 7am, then an E4 broadcast the same night at 7pm. Full episodes are also released on YouTube a week after their Channel 4 release.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
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