Ex Neighbours star Dan 'excited' to join Hollyoaks

Ex Neighbours star Dan 'excited' to join Hollyoaks (Image credit: Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)

Hollyoaks newcomer Dan O'Connor is set to get hearts racing - and handbags swinging - as Amy Barnes and Michaela McQueen fight for his character's affections. Hunky military serviceman Ally - played by the former Neighbours actor - will arrive in Hollyoaks in February as a lodger with Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper) and Rhys Ashworth (Andy Moss), fresh from service in Afghanistan. The Australian heartthrob soon catches the eye of Amy, played by Ashley Slanina-Davies, Michaela (Hollie Jay-Bowes), as well as Amy's ex-boyfriend Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson). "I'm really excited about joining Hollyoaks, especially with its recent success," said the 33-year-old. "I have already started filming in Liverpool and there is a real buzz and energy around the place. I'm really looking forward to working with some of the show's most popular characters and talented actors." He told Sydney's Daily Telegraph that Ally has an air of mystery around him. "He has a dark past that will be uncovered eventually in true soap style," he teased. Dan, a former Australian Idol contestant, previously appeared in Australian soap Neighbours as Ned Parker but left in 2008, after surviving dramatic storylines such as a fire and a car crash.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.