{"id":650776,"date":"2026-06-21T15:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T15:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/650776\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T15:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T15:41:14","slug":"exclusive-hollyoaks-secures-permanent-return-for-james-nightingale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/650776\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Hollyoaks secures permanent return for James Nightingale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hollyoaks spoilers<\/a> follow.<\/p>\n

Hollyoaks star Gregory Finnegan has returned to the soap as a regular cast member, Digital Spy can exclusively reveal.<\/p>\n

The actor has signed up to reprise his role as James Nightingale on a permanent basis, less than two years after the popular character was seemingly killed off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"james<\/p>\n

Lime Pictures<\/p>\n

Related: Exclusive \u2013 Hollyoaks films Lucas Hay’s return after prison plot<\/a><\/p>\n

Viewers have seen James pop in and out of the show since Hollyoaks’ 30th anniversary episodes last October<\/a>, when it was revealed that he’d miraculously survived a car bomb explosion.<\/p>\n

While those appearances have been fleeting, fans can look forward to seeing much more from James in the coming weeks and months as he returns to the village for good.<\/p>\n

“Gregory is already back filming as a regular cast member again,” explains our Hollyoaks source. “It’s great news for fans, who were devastated when he exited the soap amid the 2024 stunt plot and one-year time jump.<\/p>\n

“Producers saw how much viewers had missed James, so the opportunity to bring him back with a shock on-screen reveal last year was impossible to resist. <\/p>\n

“Some people had started to wonder whether his recent guest appearances would be all we’d see of him, but it’s just been a waiting game to bring him back to the village full-time.”<\/p>\n

\"james<\/p>\n

Lime Pictures<\/p>\n

Related: Hollyoaks star Annie Wallace shares exciting Doctor Who news in career update<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in March, Gregory explained<\/a> that he’d started work as a school drama teacher when he received the call to return to Hollyoaks.<\/p>\n

This meant that he could only film for the show during school holidays, which explained why James kept coming back for brief stints before disappearing again.<\/p>\n

“It has been a bit manic \u2013 teaching by day, resurrecting myself by night \u2013 but genuinely joyful to see so many old pals again, and the school couldn’t have been more supportive,” Gregory told The i Paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Digital Spy understands that Gregory has now completed his contract with the school, freeing him up to return to Hollyoaks on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n

\"james<\/p>\n

Lime Pictures<\/p>\n

Related: Hollyoaks films mystery wedding as Prince McQueen star shares first look<\/a><\/p>\n

James’s recent appearances have explored his unresolved feelings for his ex-husband Ste Hay, who is now married to Rex Gallagher.<\/p>\n

Once James is back, is there still a chance for him and Ste or will he have to make a fresh start with someone else?<\/p>\n

“There’s plenty to explore with James \u2013 with Ste still in the village, a new-look Leah on the scene <\/a>and Lucas coming back soon too,” our insider adds. “Also, with the crime rate in the area as high as ever, the residents could definitely do with a good lawyer!”<\/p>\n

Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating the global phenomenon of BTS, is here! Buy this ultimate fan guide in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hollyoaks spoilers follow. Hollyoaks star Gregory Finnegan has returned to the soap as a regular cast member, Digital…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[150303,147950,379,218980,381,96,2788,190731,1156,218979,148053,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-650776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-exclusives","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-dc72ae73-8ed6-428d-adf7-e4a9981f8260","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-exclusive-hollyoaks-secures-permanent-return-for-james","tag-subsection-hollyoaks","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650776","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=650776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}