Hollyoaks spoilers follow from Monday’s episode on Channel 4 streaming, which doesn’t air on E4 until tonight at 7pm.
Hollyoaks has aired huge surprises following a time jump in today’s early streaming release.
This isn’t just the beginning of the brand-new week in Chester – it’s a brand new year, as the soap picked up 12 months after the double tragedy of a motorbike crash and car bombing.
The soap had left off with multiple characters confirmed dead – Dave Williams (aka Blue) and Suzanne Ashworth among them – as well as fears that James Nightingale and Ste Hay had been killed by a car bomb.
A catch-up took the form of original Hollyoaks resident Tony Hutchinson walking through the village, giving viewers brief glimpses of where everyone is one year after the tragedy.
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Early scenes revealed there was still trouble in Tony and Diane’s marriage, while Cleo had supposedly sent the McQueens a postcard from Bali to wish them well for a party at Casa McQueen.
Abe Fielding was later shown back in the village, having a face-off with brother Joel Dexter. It was confirmed that even though the entire village had found out about Abe abusing Cleo, he’s secretly moved on to dating Peri Lomax.
Prince McQueen and Zoe Anderson officially got together following the birth of their baby, and Misbah Maalik and Donny Clark were now a couple as well.
Robbie Roscoe was also back living in the village after murdering Blue in last week’s cliffhanger, and was now in a relationship with Vicky Grant.
Viewers saw Sienna Blake sporting an engagement ring as she put together bouquets at the flower shop to close out an upbeat montage.
Once the montage ended, the soap transitioned to more sombre scenes, including the Osbornes and Lomaxes visiting loved ones’ graves – where viewers learned Leah Barnes is pregnant.
In a heartbreaking moment, Mercedes was revealed to be undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
As the party started at Casa McQueen, Prince surprised all of the guests by proposing to Zoe, who shed happy tears as she agreed to marry him.
Prince then turned things over to Donny so he could propose to Misbah as well. When he asked if they could “show the kids how it’s done” with a wedding of their own, Misbah gleefully accepted.
Vicky wasn’t thrilled to see Sienna and fiancé Ethan Williams loved up, but Leah warned her to “get over it” because her crush on Ethan would never go anywhere.
Their argument was interrupted by Leah’s waters breaking. As Joel and Leela waited at the hospital later on, viewers learned that they were expecting a baby as well.
The couple shared a kiss, yet Leela had to hold back tears once she turned away from Joel. As another downbeat montage started, viewers saw Jack Osborne had somehow survived the motorbike crash.
Jack somberly placed flowers on Suzanne Ashworth’s grave. The soap cut to the hospital where viewers learned Ste Hay was the person who had been shown in a coma throughout the half-hour.
As Leah screamed out for her father during labour, Ste’s eyes were shown opening. Another transition had Jack visiting James Nightingale’s grave, thus confirming the solicitor died in the car bomb explosion.
The episode ended on a sinister note as viewers learned Cleo McQueen wasn’t actually in Bali – Abe has had her trapped in his flat for an entire year.
Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming 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.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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