Exclusive: Hollyoaks' Ste Hay is going nowhere as Kieron Richardson signs a new contract
The actor is now looking forward to filming his 1,000th episode.
Hollyoaks star Kieron Richardson has revealed that he's signed a new contract which will keep Ste Hay in the show for the foreseeable future.
The popular actor has been off our screens for a large chunk of this year, after proudly welcoming the arrival of twins with his husband Carl Hyland.
Kieron's paternity leave tied in with Hollyoaks' biggest story of the year, as Ste was jailed while he was awaiting trial over the murder of Amy Barnes.
Ste was finally released when he was found not guilty last month, but there's still a few more weeks to wait until he returns to our screens on a permanent basis.
However, speaking to Digital Spy about his future in the show, Kieron assured us that he's going nowhere.
"I've signed a new contract this year, which is massively exciting because it means I'm going to be doing my 1,000th episode," he told us. "Considering the show has only done 4,000 episodes, it's a massive achievement.
"I think there's going to be some nod to the 1,000 episode marker, but I don't know what it'll be yet. Maybe they'll do nothing in the end, but I'm still super proud to have survived 1,000 episodes and not been killed off!
"Even after doing all those episodes, I still feel like I'm learning every single day and that's the beauty of being in Hollyoaks. All the time, amazing new actors are coming in, younger kids are joining the show and I'm still trying to steal bits of what they do to put into my character."
Discussing his recent time off, Kieron continued: "It's been the best time of my life personally, but it's also been surreal. Ste has been so busy over his past 12 years in the show, so I have missed it so much.
"But then again, I don't feel like the audience needed to miss the character, because he's been mentioned so much while he's been away. I watched one episode and I think he was mentioned about 18 times.
"I'm back this week for the episodes where Harry tells Tony that he was the killer, but then I'm gone again for a little bit. I've only just started filming full-time again in the past week, but I've been coming back every couple of weeks doing random episodes here and there, then going back to paternity. But I'm back now solidly."
The actor is now looking forward to filming his 1,000th episode.
Hollyoaks star Kieron Richardson has revealed that he's signed a new contract which will keep Ste Hay in the show for the foreseeable future.
The popular actor has been off our screens for a large chunk of this year, after proudly welcoming the arrival of twins with his husband Carl Hyland.
Kieron's paternity leave tied in with Hollyoaks' biggest story of the year, as Ste was jailed while he was awaiting trial over the murder of Amy Barnes.
Ste was finally released when he was found not guilty last month, but there's still a few more weeks to wait until he returns to our screens on a permanent basis.
However, speaking to Digital Spy about his future in the show, Kieron assured us that he's going nowhere.
"I've signed a new contract this year, which is massively exciting because it means I'm going to be doing my 1,000th episode," he told us. "Considering the show has only done 4,000 episodes, it's a massive achievement.
"I think there's going to be some nod to the 1,000 episode marker, but I don't know what it'll be yet. Maybe they'll do nothing in the end, but I'm still super proud to have survived 1,000 episodes and not been killed off!
"Even after doing all those episodes, I still feel like I'm learning every single day and that's the beauty of being in Hollyoaks. All the time, amazing new actors are coming in, younger kids are joining the show and I'm still trying to steal bits of what they do to put into my character."
Discussing his recent time off, Kieron continued: "It's been the best time of my life personally, but it's also been surreal. Ste has been so busy over his past 12 years in the show, so I have missed it so much.
"But then again, I don't feel like the audience needed to miss the character, because he's been mentioned so much while he's been away. I watched one episode and I think he was mentioned about 18 times.
"I'm back this week for the episodes where Harry tells Tony that he was the killer, but then I'm gone again for a little bit. I've only just started filming full-time again in the past week, but I've been coming back every couple of weeks doing random episodes here and there, then going back to paternity. But I'm back now solidly."
