Ellis Hollins was "gutted" when the McQueens joined ‘Hollyoaks’ because the set’s swimming pool was demolished to make way for their flat.
The 20-year-old actor has been a regular on the Channel 4 soap as Tom Cunningham since he was three years old, and just five years later he was looking forward to taking a daily dip in the show’s Liverpool-based set’s pool, only for bosses to fill it in to make way for the then-new family.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I was gutted when I turned seven or eight … in the McQueens building there used to be a pool.
"It didn’t used to be a set at all. It used to literally be a massive swimming pool for you to just go and swim in the morning, at lunchtime, whenever you wanted.
"I remember Nick Pickard used to swim in it three times a day, just because he could.
"There was an age limit on it, I think it was eight years old. And I was turning eight but the week before I turned eight they filled it in and turned it into the McQueens set."
Ellis admits he couldn’t control his emotions when he found out he wouldn’t be able to follow in the footsteps of ‘Oaks’ legend Nick (Tony Hutchinson) and have a thrice daily dip.
He said: "I’ve never cried like that before in my life. I was so gutted."
And Ellis admits he has seen so much in his 17 years on the soap, including the Courtneers playing a gig in the staff canteen, that he wouldn’t be surprised what happened next.
He added: "I’ve seen a lot of stuff come and go, from swimming pools to the Courtneers playing here one night in the canteen.
"I have no idea why they came here and played a set.
Ellis Hollins ‘gutted’ when McQueens joined Hollyoaks
