The couple have been estranged in recent weeks.

Hollyoaks spoilers follow.

Hollyoaks star Gregory Finnegan has explained how James Nightingale and Ste Hay come to reunite.

The married couple split up last month after James found out about Ste’s fling with Rex, with the lawyer subsequently filing for divorce.

Ste attempted to win James back, but James suffered a shock collapse and later began to think he may have a brain tumour, with next week’s scenes seeing James inform his estranged husband of his suspicions.

Finnegan, who joined the Channel 4 soap in 2016, spoke with Inside Soap about the upcoming scenes, sharing details of his character’s mental psyche as well as the future of the couple.

“It’s a bit of a leap isn’t it!” he began. “Sometimes people get in their own heads about these health issues… [You] get a minor thing, and before you know it they’ve self-diagnosed on the internet and it becomes a major thing.

“James is one of those kinds of people, and he’s just gone a bit too far – which he tends to do in many things. He genuinely thinks this is it, and it focuses the mind. He doesn’t want it to be difficult for Ste and the rest of the family – he doesn’t want to be a burden.”

The developments naturally bring James and Ste closer together, though Finnegan noted that it might not all be plain sailing as he added: “It’s nice to see them in a happy place and looking to the future. It’s positive. But as with anything on a soap, when people are happy, it rarely lasts.

“From how they [James and Ste] first got together, and all of the turmoil surrounding James sleeping with Harry [Ste’s then boyfriend], the writing was probably on the wall long ago. They probably aren’t the best match because they both attract trouble, and that’s not a good mix.”

Hollyoaks airs Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming premiere at 7am, then an E4 broadcast the same night at 7pm. Full episodes are also released on YouTube a week after their Channel 4 release.