{"id":470759,"date":"2026-03-12T03:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T03:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/470759\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T03:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T03:17:12","slug":"emmerdale-and-coronation-street-stars-confirmed-for-new-hollyoaks-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/470759\/","title":{"rendered":"Emmerdale and Coronation Street stars confirmed for new Hollyoaks family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some familiar faces are heading to Hollyoaks<\/a> – as three soap favourites become the first names to be announced as part of a new family.<\/p>\n

The Keanes – who will start a new life in the Chester village this spring – are composed of Emmerdale<\/a> legend Matthew Wolfenden and Coronation Street<\/a>‘s Rebecca Ryan and Lewis Walton.<\/p>\n

Wolfenden called time on his ITV soap stint in 2023<\/a>, after 17 years of playing shopkeeper David Metcalfe. He pursued a career in the West End production of Elf: The Musical, and launched podcast Celebrity Side Hustles with former co-star Roxy Shahidi.<\/p>\n

Ryan is no stranger to the Dales herself, having appeared as Bob Hope’s daughter Carly in 2006. She later starred as stalker Lydia Chambers in Corrie<\/a>, who harassed Adam Barlow and Sarah Platt for months, but is best known for her breakout role as Debbie Gallagher in Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless.<\/p>\n

Newcomer Walton, who plays the youngest member of the Keane clan, received acclaim for his portrayal of a younger Mick Michaelis in a special flashback episode<\/a> of Corrie last year.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Matthew Wolfenden and Lewis Walton play father and son in the new Keane family.\u00a0Lime Pictures<\/p>\n

He follows in the footsteps of co-star Brook Debio, who played young Kit Green and recently took over as Ant Hutchinson in the E4 serial drama.<\/p>\n

Pictures released by production company Lime Pictures show the trio filming playful scenes on location in the Childwall suburb of Liverpool, where Hollyoaks is produced. The characters can be seen donning giant sunglasses and packing boxes into the back of a removals van ahead of their relocation.<\/p>\n

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\"Radio<\/p>\n

Speaking of his return to soapland, Wolfenden said: “I\u2019m so excited to finally share that I\u2019m joining Hollyoaks as part of a brand-new family arriving in the village. It\u2019s an absolute privilege to step into this world and be part of something so iconic. <\/p>\n

“From the moment I read the scripts, I knew this was going to be something special. I can\u2019t wait for the audience to meet them and see how they turn a few heads along the way\u2026 it\u2019s going to be a ride, buckle up.”<\/p>\n

Ryan, who also played Vicki MacDonald in Waterloo Road and Gem Dean in Casualty, added: “I am so excited to be joining the cast. My character is feisty and a bit of a firecracker but fiercely loyal.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis<\/p>\n

Rebecca Ryan completes the trio of former Corrie and Emmerdale stars heading to Hollyoaks.\u00a0Lime Pictures<\/p>\n

“I am so excited for everyone to meet her. I am having the best time so far and can’t wait for her story to unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walton agreed with the sentiments, saying: I\u2019m thrilled to be joining. My character is charismatic, sporty and someone who\u2019s always been the fun, positive presence in the room. <\/p>\n

“He\u2019s incredibly close to his family and determined to follow in his dad\u2019s footsteps, while chasing big ambitions of his own, especially when it comes to sport. But life doesn\u2019t always go to plan, and an unexpected challenge will force him to dig deeper than ever before\u2026”<\/p>\n

Given this is Hollyoaks village, this ‘unexpected challenge’ could be absolutely anything…<\/p>\n

Hollyoaks<\/a> is available to watch on Channel 4 catch-up and airs Monday to Wednesday, from 7pm on E4.<\/p>\n

Visit our dedicated Soaps<\/a> page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Soaps<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide <\/a>to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some familiar faces are heading to Hollyoaks – as three soap favourites become the first names to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-470759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}