List of Hollyoaks characters introduced in 2020


Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters introduced in 2020, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood. January saw the introduction of Tony Hutchinson's sister [|Verity] and [|PC George Kiss]. March saw the arrival of Mitchell Deveraux, Toby Faroe and Celeste Faroe's father, Felix Westwood. Kyle Kelly's parents, [|Mark] and [|Carole] first appeared in May, while Sylver McQueen's secret daughter, Cher Winters and Jordan Price's drugs boss, Victor Brothers made their debuts in June. July saw the arrival of Cormac Ranger and Ripley Lennox. Summer Ranger then made her first appearance in November. Additionally, multiple [|other characters] appear throughout the year.

Verity Hutchinson

Verity Hutchinson, played by Eva O'Hara, made her first appearance on 6 January 2020, as part of Hollyoaks Later and her last appearance on 7 December 2022 when she dies following a cardiac arrest after having a bookshelf pushed on top of her by Bobby Costello. The character was announced on 20 September 2019, but casting wasn't revealed until 10 December 2019. Verity is the sister of the soap's longest-running character Tony Hutchinson and the daughter of Edward Hutchinson. Verity is Edward's favourite child and arrives in the village to launch her own law firm. Describing the character, Eva said that she "can hold her own in any situation and really doesn't take no for an answer", adding: "She has a fascinating balance of ruthlessness and compassion, making her one to watch... I've found myself feeling jealous of her fearlessness at times."
Speaking about her casting, she said: "I have been totally bowled over by the wonderful team at Hollyoaks. I have fallen in love with the warmth and passion of everyone involved, and feel utterly blessed to be involved in such a creative environment."

George Kiss

George Kiss, played by Callum Kerr, made his first appearance on 30 January 2020. The character and casting was announced on 20 January 2020. George is involved in a county lines drug trafficking storyline, and made his first appearance after Nancy Osborne is stabbed at Hollyoaks High.
Speaking about being part of the show, Kerr said: "I feel very honoured to be joining the cast of Hollyoaks during such a thrilling time for the show. My first couple of months have been brilliant and the cast and crew are very friendly and welcoming. My grandfather was a policeman like my character, so he'll be delighted to see me in the uniform. I'll be part of the team investigating the County Lines storyline, which will hopefully help raise awareness of a relevant topic and shed light on a serious issue." Speaking further about the character's personality, Kerr said: "He'd be willing to risk his life, as long as the papers wrote about him afterwards and called him a 'hero cop'! I think he'd do anything. George is going to put himself in some dangerous situations when he should probably wait for back-up. But I think he loves the action and he is so passionate that he rushes in without thinking. George is very exciting as a new character. He's passionate and he loves his job. He loves being the saviour and being in the limelight. George loves the action of being a policeman, more so than the paperwork and the logistics. You'll see that he's quite flirty, he's very friendly with everyone and he has got a really exciting storyline."
He continued, saying: "My first scenes come when Nancy has just been stabbed in the playground after an altercation and the police are called. George is the first officer on the scene, but the paramedics are already there. He has to try to understand what's going on very quickly. George takes control of the situation immediately. It's a really nice way to be introduced, showing him as someone who's trustworthy and who can take control of a dangerous situation. I think there'll be a lot of those, over the course of the next year. So far my scenes have been with the teachers at the school. I have shared scenes with Nancy, Sally, John Paul, and then a few of the worried parents as well. I've also been with DS Cohen a few times. She's my boss and she's very good at her job, so George is keen to impress! You'll see that George is a police officer for the right reasons and his heart is in it. He wants to make sure this village, and the kids in it, are safe from the dangers that come from drug dealing and drug trafficking.""
Following his first appearance, George quickly became a love interest for John Paul McQueen. Much of their relationship took place off-screen, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television meant that four months of filming was lost, and Kerr said that their "relationship blossoming and the good parts of their relationship" were not seen. He felt that it was a shame that viewers were not able to see the scenes, but said that the writers did a good job with what they could do. The relationship becomes abusive, with George having coercive control over John Paul. His "sick manipulation" includes using his ex-boyfriend Dean Vickers, who he also abused, to make John Paul jealous, hitting John Paul, and isolating him from his family and friends. In a surprise scene broadcast on 22 April 2021, George is murdered. Digital Spy had to confirm that George had really died, as earlier that week, the character faked his own death as part of his abusive relationship with John Paul. Kerr was grateful to be on the show, stating that while he would have liked to appear for longer, he was happy that his tenure was not shorter. He also felt that his tenure was long enough to do the abuse storyline justice, noting that some viewers were calling for the storyline to end. Kerr spoke with the producers about the fate of his character and they agreed that his death was a "justifiable end" for his character. Both Kerr and the producers opined that George returning in the future "to cause more havoc" would not be a good arc for the soap, since they felt his abuse was "disgusting". They also wanted John Paul to be able to move on from the trauma of the relationship properly. The suspects for George's murder include John Paul, Nancy, Dean, Mercedes McQueen, Theresa McQueen, Cher Winters, Sally St. Claire, James Nightingale, and Ste Hay. Kerr confirmed that he knew the murderer and stated that it will not be revealed "for a while". It is later revealed through a series of flashback scenes that Sally is responsible for his death when she finds him about to attack Theresa.

[|Thierry]

Thierry is the biological son of Phoenix Hathaway and Ollie Morgan. He was born on 20 February 2020 in Episode 5369, and was adopted by [|Mal] and [|Zoe], who are actually Grant's real-life parents. Speaking to Radio Times, Grant said: “Once she had given the baby away, I think Brooke felt like it was the end of a chapter for her. She was very decided about adoption. It was a really weird feeling filming with my mum and dad. It was like a crack in the simulation!" He continued by explaining how it may impact Phoenix's relationship with Ollie: "I really don’t know what the future holds for Brooke and Ollie, and whether they can move past this. They certainly love each other however they aren’t really feeling the same things. I think it is really important that Hollyoaks is tackling the topic of adoption as we need far more people to come forward to adopt children, especially black and mixed-race children." Ollie made a memory book for their baby boy but he was too upset to reveal either to Phoenix or Mal and Zoe that his son had a 50 percent chance of inheriting the genetic condition Frontotemporal Dementia from his dad, Luke Morgan.
On 25 May 2022, Thierry returns with Mal and Zoe after Ollie reaches out to them after his father, who has dementia, accused him of abandoning him. Gabriel Clark, who had taken over the role of Ollie from Duckworth, told Inside Soap: "It's so exciting to revisit this adoption story: it's a lovely opportunity to see how much Ollie has changed." He continued: "Over the past few years, Ollie has had a few moments where he's questioned whether he made the right decision giving up Thierry. It's not how Ollie expects it to be – as with any reunion in Hollyoaks, there are twists and turns, and bumps along the way. A lot happens – and in a very short space of time." Clark described the scenes to be "quite emotional" for him as a gay actor portraying adoption in soaps. "It was such a surreal experience – especially as I'm gay, and I'm not expecting to have my own children. So to play someone who has a biological child, and to see a child that looks vaguely like me, was weird and quite emotional. It's been so lovely to portray the importance of adoption – I have a lot of... family who have adopted, and I think if I ever have kids, I'll do the same."

Mal

Mal is the adoptive father of Phoenix Hathaway and Ollie Morgan's son, Thierry. He is played by David Grant, and appears alongside his wife Carrie Grant, who plays his on-screen wife, Zoe. Although Ollie gives them a memory book for Thierry to remember him and Brooke by, they leave it behind when they take him. Mal and Zoe are played by Tylan Grant's, who plays Phoenix, real-life parents. Grant commented on his experience in Hollyoaks: "It felt like role reversal. Talia is now so experienced and we were in her environment. We felt like the kids!" Tylan Grant commented on how it felt working with his parents: "It was a really weird feeling filming with my mum and dad." Duckworth also commented on working with Carrie and David: "They were absolutely brilliant and they smashed it," he told Digital Spy. "It was brilliant that, I loved that they were involved. They're such lovely people and I knew them already before they came on set to do the filming. It was fun, a good experience for them and us." Asked if he gave them any advice, Duckworth said: "They didn't need advice, they gave us advice! Not the other way around!"
on 25 May 2022, Mal and Zoe return with Thierry after Ollie reaches out to them after his father Luke Morgan, who has dementia, accuses him of abandoning him. Gabriel Clark, who took over the role of Ollie from Duckworth said of working with the pair: "They are absolute legends! I'd seen them on TV growing up and they were so cool."