Hollyoaks continues shake-up with new family

Hollyoaks continues shake-up with new family
Hollyoaks continues shake-up with new family (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

Hollyoaks is to introduce a new family, the Costelloes, in the continuing shake-up of the Channel 4 soap. According to producers Lime Pictures, the Costelloes are 'glamour personified'. Former The Bill actress Kim Tiddy (pictured) heads up the family as mum Heidi, an ex-model who’s more than able to hold her own, while ex-footballer dad Carl (Paul Opacic) is an incurable ladies' man. Eldest son Riley (Rob Norbury, Grange Hill) looks set to cause a stir among the Hollyoaks girls, while younger brother Seth (Miles Higson) is determined to step out of his brother’s shadow. The Costelloes will join the Sharpes, already announced, who will be led by former Footballers' Wives star Phina Oruche, while former Emmerdale star Alex Carter is reprising his role as Lee Hunter. The new characters will replace a reported 16 current Hollyoaks actors who have either chosen to leave or not had their contracts renewed o the soap. Hollyoaks producer Paul Marquess said: We can’t wait for this huge new boost of energy exploding on screen. These exciting new characters join our fantastic core cast. Together they will ensure that 2010 will be a year to remember on Hollyoaks."

Patrick McLennan

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.