We’ve seen another busy week of soap news, with upcoming exit plots hitting the headlines for Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Home and Away.
Meanwhile, the Emmerdale cast have been catching up with Digital Spy to share their thoughts on future storylines.
With so much going on, though, did you miss any gossip? Just in case you did, here’s our round-up of the biggest soap news which came our way this week.
Emmerdale’s Tom story future and more village gossip
ITV
It was a big week for Emmerdale coverage on Digital Spy, as we went live with an exclusive behind-the-scenes video that we recorded at an exciting Inside Soap photoshoot featuring Emma Atkins (Charity), Lucy Pargeter (Chas) and Lawrence Robb (Mackenzie).
We headed to Leeds for exclusive video access to the shoot and recorded chats with all three cast members on the day, hearing their thoughts on future storylines.
If you missed our trio of articles earlier in the week, Emma predicted a huge backlash for Tom King when the Dingles inevitably find out about his abuse of Belle. The popular star said that she expects “extreme anger and upset – and support for Belle, because the Dingles always come together to rally round to support whoever’s in need”.
Meanwhile, Lucy shared her thoughts on the ongoing Chas/Liam/Ella love triangle, confirming that she still thinks Chas and Liam could ultimately make a good match.
Lawrence also spoke about the possibility of Jessie Elland making a return as Chloe Harris – and it sounds like the door is still left wide open for a future comeback.
The full photoshoot, which has a fun disco theme, can be found in the current issue of Inside Soap.
Emmerdale’s special episode
ITV
Emmerdale‘s format-breaking “special episodes” can sometimes be divisive among fans but it sounds like the next one – focusing on Tom, Belle, Rhona and Marlon – will be worth the risk of tinkering with the usual style.
Show bosses had previously teased a dramatic dinner party featuring the two couples. Following on from this, Mark Charnock and Zoe Henry – who play Marlon and Rhona – were on hand to share some early gossip this week.
Zoe told us: “Rhona’s disgraceful during the dinner party! All I will say is we get very drunk. You know that saying, ‘Sober man’s mind, drunken man’s tongue’. It’s awful.
“We shot the whole episode in two days and it was like filming a play. There are only eight characters in the episode and it’s just great. But Rhona and Marlon are disgusting that day!”
Mark added: “All I can say about it is I’ve never done anything like that episode before. It has a very unusual structure and it was a fantastic couple of days filming it. There’s a lot going on in that episode.”
Fans had initially expected Tom and Belle’s story to be the main one taking centre stage in the episode. However, as we’ve since learned that there’s a big twist coming at Gus Malcolms’ court hearing next week, it sounds like there’s high drama on the way for Marlon and Rhona’s marriage too as they navigate the fallout.
Emmerdale’s Samson tipped for exit
ITV
Emmerdale has also hit the headlines this weekend with news that Sam Hall could be bowing out as Samson Dingle after 15 years.
Reports have claimed that Samson will be killed off in a shocking new storyline, although the ITV soap declined to comment or confirm the rumours when approached by Digital Spy.
Hollyoaks death storyline
Lime Pictures
Hollyoaks exit revelations are likely to keep trickling out over the next few months due to job cuts at the Channel 4 soap, but the most recent departure news was unrelated to the on-set redundancies.
News broke this week that Theo Graham is bowing out as Hunter McQueen, who’s expected to be killed off in a tragic new storyline. His departure has reportedly been in the works since late last year – way before Hollyoaks‘ cutbacks – and his final scenes have already been filmed.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Waring gave an emotional interview about her character Cindy Cunningham being axed from the soap – another timely reminder of the real-life impact of September’s permanent episode reduction.
Bobby leaving EastEnders
BBC
Someone at EastEnders has been very keen to clarify the contract status of anyone called Bobby over the past fortnight. Hot on the heels of the news that Bobby Brazier is sticking around as Freddie Slater, the announcement was made that Clay Milner Russell sadly won’t be doing the same in his role as Bobby Beale.
It’s always a shame to see a key character from a legacy family waving goodbye, but reports have stated that Clay always had ambitions to move on to other roles eventually.
An EastEnders spokesperson confirmed: “We can confirm that Clay will be leaving EastEnders later on this year, and we wish him the best for the future.”
Coronation Street’s Alex Bain waves goodbye to the cobbles
Joseph Scanlon//ITV
There was an emotional moment for Coronation Street‘s Alex Bain this week as he filmed his final scenes as Simon Barlow after more than 15 years with the show.
With Corrie typically filming scenes six to eight weeks in advance, it seems likely that Simon will stay on our screens until June.
Earlier this week, Simon made a sudden mention of potentially wanting to join his father Peter on his travels around the seas. Could this have been an early hint to his exit storyline?
Home and Away’s Valerie leaves the Bay
Channel 5
Home and Away also confirmed a departure this week, with Courtney Clarke making her final appearance as Valerie Beaumont on Australian screens.
As Valerie’s secret drug use was finally exposed to Theo Poulos’s family, she decided that the Lyrik singer was better off without her and left the Bay for a fresh start.
Theo actor Matt Evans and Courtney Clarke later confirmed this was the end for Valerie in some sweet posts paying tribute to each other on their Instagram pages.
UK fans will see Valerie bow out at Channel 5 pace in early June.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
