Karl Collins expected his ‘Hollyoaks’ exit to be "less emotional".
The 48-year-old actor bowed out of the Channel 4 soap in last night’s (21.01.19) first-look E4 episode when Breda McQueen – played by Moya Brady – bashed his alter-ego Louis Loveday to death with a telephone after keeping him prisoner at a pig farm.
He said: "I thought I would be less emotional about it, actually. Four years is a good stretch of time. It’s the longest period I’ve spent in one job and I always knew that I wanted to do four years maximum. Leaving coincided perfectly with another job, which I actually started rehearsing for before I’d left ‘Hollyoaks’.
"But it did catch me by surprise, in terms of how emotional it was. The people at ‘Hollyoaks’ really make that place. It’s always lovely when you get on well with your colleagues, both on camera and off. I’ve also loved living in Liverpool for the time that I’ve been here.
"So leaving has been quite a wrench, I would say."
While Louis was bumped off with the telephone, Karl didn’t escape injury either as Moya accidentally struck him with her serial killer character’s weapon during filming.
He said: "Moya did injure me slightly on the final shot.
"We were doing rehearsal and she threw up the telephone and whacked me so hard, full force on my knee while I was sitting in the wheelchair.
"The pain went straight through me. I screamed like a girl and the room went absolutely silent. Moya was mortified."
Karl left the soap of his own accord to fulfil other career opportunities, and after telling executive producer Bryan Kirkwood that he wanted to depart the famous village, he was "really exited" about his exit story.
He added to Digital Spy: "I was really excited. It could have all gone horribly wrong – he could have been really p***ed off and disappointed that I wanted to leave. He could have put me in the back of a cab, or sent me to the corner shop, never to return."
Karl Collins: Hollyoaks exit is a wrench
