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Ellis Hollins: Jake Quickenden was always ‘raring to go’ on Hollyoaks

Ellis Hollins says Jake Quickenden was always the first one on set during his ‘Hollyoaks’ stint.
The 20-year-old actor has starred as Tom Cunningham on the Channel 4 soap since he was three years old, but admits he hadn’t laughed as much "for a long time" as he did when Jake appeared as construction worker Woody.
He told BANG Showbiz: "He’s a wonderful fella. I haven’t laughed like that for a long time.
"He always came into work … we come into work at 7.50am, which for some people is a standard time but you’re still tired when you come in.
"It’s like he’s done an all-nighter. He was up and he was raring to go. He already had his costume on at half six in the morning.
"He’s got his high vis on and his hard hat on and he’s in the village. No one else is on set.
"He’s so awake, and he just doesn’t stop."
Ellis says Jake was always in such a great mood he could even "brighten up" a funeral scene.
He added: "It’s brilliant, because no matter what kind of set he’s on … we could film a funeral, which is quite morbid, but he could brighten it up, and he could have us in stitches on any set or storyline.
"He brought something else to the set, which not many other people have brought before."
Jake previously joked he would’ve been prepared to strip on ‘Hollyoaks’ if it meant he could stay on the soap longer.
‘Good Morning Britain’ co-host Ben Shephard asked him: "When’s the stripping scene?"
Jake said: "Tune into Channel 4.
"If they keep me in the show I’ll do anything. So I will strip."
Jake felt "nervous" when he was watching his ‘Hollyoaks’ debut, and was anticipating receiving "some grief" on social media.
He added: "[It’s] so surreal because I’ve done the reality stuff but there’s only so much longevity in that.
"’Hollyoaks’ came to watch and then they offered me this little role. It was really surreal. "I was nervous, I was sat at home with my girl and I was terrified because you’re always going to get a bit of grief on Twitter."