Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks star Rory Douglas-Speed has reportedly quit his role as Joel Dexter – and viewers have already watched his final scenes.
This year, Joel has been involved in a huge storyline involving fake therapist Tommy, who made him think that he had killed his brother Billy during the show’s missing year.
Tommy used this to get closer to Joel, but as this disturbing stalker plot unfolded over a number of months, Joel discovered that Tommy had lied about Billy’s death.
Joel was furious, and while high on drugs, he confronted Tommy – and the next morning he woke up to find Tommy dead.
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His wife Leela and mum Marie discovered what he had done, and Joel strongly considered covering his tracks, but Leela encouraged him to hand himself in for killing Tommy.
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As a result, Joel was arrested for murder, taken into custody by corrupt cop DI Banks, and hasn’t been seen on screen since.
But while it was assumed that Joel’s story would soon be revisited, The Sun has reported that Rory, who has played the character since 2016, has quit the show to explore new opportunities.
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Surprisingly, this means that this final prison scene, which aired last month, was the last viewers will see of Joel for now.
The publication also reports that show bosses have left the door open for a potential return for Joel in the future.
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We approached Hollyoaks about this story, and the show declined to comment.
Rory’s real-life partner is co-star Nadine Mulkerrin, who plays Cleo on the Channel 4 soap.
Cleo and Joel’s relationship was recently revisited once again when the pair slept together during a rough patch in his marriage to Leela.
Joel and Leela briefly split when his betrayal came to light, but the couple eventually got back on track.
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.
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Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
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