Hollyoaks fans may have noticed something was slightly different during Brendan Brady's Hollyoaks Favourites episode.
Thursday's (April 16) first-look episode on E4 was a flashback to 2013, when Brendan (Emmett J. Scanlan) revealed the horrifying abuse he'd suffered at the hands of his father Seamus Brady (Fintan McKeown).
However, there was something different about this edition of Hollyoaks Favourites. As viewers potentially noticed in the clip above, and as Kieron Richardson has now confirmed, the Ste actor filmed his introduction from home.
"As everybody is quite aware, we weren't expecting to not have new episodes of Hollyoaks this spring and summer," he explained. "Due to lockdown, Hollyoaks Favourites was born. We wanted to make sure we still had something for the fans to see.
"We have been listening to fans at the same time, and Brendan's name kept popping up. It's only natural that we should have a Brendan episode. Therefore we decided to add that episode, and I filmed that from home."
Richardson also encouraged fans to keep up their social media requests for Hollyoaks Favourites because they are definitely influencing episode picks.
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“Hollyoaks Favourites is certainly the fans' show, and we have to give them what they want," he said. "If they want Brendan, then we have to do that. I think I've seen lots more messages of people requesting things, so if this is ongoing, and continues to be so popular, I think it would be amazing if fans had an input as to what favourite episodes they get to see.
"The situation is forever changing, so I'm sure I can film more from home… so bombard Hollyoaks with which favourite episodes you'd like to see and you never know, you might just get your wish…"
As for his own picks for future episodes, Richardson said: "I love going back, even if it's just to see the titles at the beginning of the show, and remembering each person. As much as people rave about the show now, when you look back a few years ago, or even further than that, you see that it has always been an amazing show.
"To watch it after all of these years, it certifies for me that we have always been good. I think ones that I would like to see would be Tony and Cindy's wedding bus crash, because that was quite iconic. I do quite like a lot of the older ones.
"Also, just to see how old sets have changed, especially the village, which has changed drastically over the years. Now we've got the market in there, and the different shops that are there, it's always nice to look back."
Hollyoaks airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look episodes airing on E4 at 7pm. Wednesdays through Fridays on E4 feature classic episodes called Hollyoaks Favourites to compensate for the soap suspending filming.
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