James Sutton joined Hollyoaks as John Paul McQueen in 2006 and the actor has announced his decision to quit the Channel 4 soap opera after two decades playing the iconic character
Dan Laurie Deputy Editor of Screen Time
12:35, 15 Jan 2026Updated 12:35, 15 Jan 2026
James Sutton has addressed his “emotional” Hollyoaks exit(Image: )
Hollyoaks actor James Sutton has spoken for the first time about his exit from the Channel 4 soap.
The 42-year-old star has filmed his exit as fan favourite John Paul McQueen after playing the iconic character on and off for the past two decades.
Appearing on 5’s Jeremy Vine on Thursday (January 15) morning as a panellist, James talked with stand-in host Susan Calman about his emotional week.
James explained: “It’s like any job in any industry if you’re there for a long enough time, the people that you work with and the people that you see every day that you have banter with and a laugh with, you know, they’re the people … that’s that’s the real thing I’m going to miss.
“I felt like I kind of done everything that I could do with the character. I’ve had a lot of heavy lifting over the years.
“They just really like making me cry, I think. My character’s been through a lot of really quite, quite difficult things.”
James continued: “I’ve done a male rape storyline. I’ve done a domestic abuse storyline, alcoholism, various other things that, you know, really hard-hitting stuff that kind of requires a lot from you as a, as a performer.
James said “I’m available” when asked if he’s up for joining another soap opera(Image: Channel 5)
“And I just felt like we kind of exhausted everything that we could do with the character and kind of run out of steam. And I thought, better to leave now than then, just to kind of fade into the into the background.”
When Susan asked about future plans and the potential to join another soap, James added: “Coronation Street, I’m available” My schedule is clear.”
Fans will remember James first joined Hollyoaks in 2006 but he left two years later to join the cast of rival ITV soap Emmerdale cast as mechanic, Ryan Lamb until 2011.
James has confirmed he’s filmed his final scenes as John Paul McQueen(Image: LIMEPICTURES)
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James then made a shock return to Hollyoaks in 2012. Last year, John Paul was caught up in an explosive storyline as he got engaged to serial killer Jez Blake (Jeremy Sheffield).
Addressing his huge decision in a recent Instagram video, James told his followers: “I have made some huge career decisions over the past few months…
“The sort of decisions that ordinarily would have terrified me the kind of decisions that when you tell your friends and family what your planning they look at you like your completely f**k*g insane.”
James recently launched his new business as a self-improvement guru for men and plans to scale back his acting work to focus on his passion.
Hollyoaks airs Monday to Wednesday on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed Channel 4 from 7am and Jeremy Vine airs on 5 weekdays at 9.15am