Hollyoaks: Richard Blackwood Confirms Exit After Four Years

Actor Richard Blackwood, known for his role as Felix Westwood in the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, has confirmed he has left the show. This comes after four years on the programme, with Blackwood's departure marking yet another significant cast exit in recent months.

Blackwood, who temporarily left the village in January, revealed his permanent exit on the Rated 18 podcast. He explained: "Okay, so officially I've left Hollyoaks now." Discussing the reasoning behind his decision, he added: "If you want to go further, you do three or four [years] tops, after that you are cemented into the show – your name is fixed, so casting people don't wanna even see you."

Blackwood's departure follows a string of cast exits this year. Stephanie Waring, who played Cindy Cunningham for nearly 30 years, recently filmed her final scenes. Other departures include Jonas Khan (Zain Rizwaan), Theo Graham (Hunter McQueen) and Glynis Barber (Norma Crow).

These exits coincide with Channel 4's decision to reduce Hollyoaks episodes to three 20-minute slots per week, a move that has sparked concerns about the future of the show.

Last week, Iz Hesketh, who played Kitty Draper, hinted at her own departure on Instagram, revealing she was "unemployed" and looking for work.

Felix Westwood's exit from Hollyoaks comes at a pivotal moment in his storyline. He had recently discovered that his partner, Mercedes McQueen, was having an affair with his best friend, Warren Fox. This led to a confrontation with Warren and involvement in a dramatic road disaster stunt that saw Ste Hay tragically kill Ella Richardson.

Felix and Warren had agreed to take a paternity test to determine the biological father of Mercedes' twins. The results revealed that the twins have two different fathers, with both Felix and Warren becoming fathers again.

While Hollyoaks has declined to comment on Blackwood's departure, his exit adds another layer of uncertainty to the future of the long-running soap.

Hollyoaks is available to stream online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm, with episodes airing on E4 the following day and on YouTube a week later. Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.