Garcia Brown, who played Zoe on Hollyoaks, has left the show after almost three years, just a week after the soap said an emotional farewell to two late stars
Hollyoaks star Garcia Brown has shocked fans with the sudden news that she’s left the show.
Garcia has played Zoe, the granddaughter of Pearl Anderson, on the Channel 4 soap since February 2022, and seems to have already filmed her final scenes, with her character having headed off to Dubai along with baby son Theo. The actress broke the news on Instagram today, firstly reposting a photo from director Sean Glynn. Alongside the snap, he wrote: “”Saying goodbye to the fab @garciaabrown this week. Always a pleasure to work with such a positive and genuinely lovely person.”
In the comment section, Garcia replied: “Thank you for always being amazing, appreciated every scene we worked on! Our paths shall cross again Sean, God bless.”
Garcia Brown shared the news of her departure suddenly on Instagram, with her character having moved to Dubai (Image: Lime Pictures)
She also shared the post to her Stories, and added: “One of my fav directors from Hollyoaks, our paths shall cross again!”
In another post, Garcia posed with the adorable actor who plays Theo, and gushed: “I had thee cutest on screen son! Loved the little time we shared on set. Thank you for trusting me with little Roman” alongside tagging the boy’s mum.
She added a second shot of herself and her on-screen son, and wrote: “Playing a mommy on screen was fun, & so was running around on set with this little one in between takes.”
In the comments of various posts, fans made it clear they were heartbroken to say goodbye to both Garcia and Zoe so soon. “She is an amazing actress will miss her so much,” one fan wrote, with another sharing: “I am gutted her and Prince never worked out.”
Garcia’s departure comes after two Hollyoaks actors died last week, just one day apart. On Wednesday, it was announced that Diane Langton, who played Nana McQueen, had tragically passed away aged 77. On Thursday, it was announced that Paul Danan, who played Sol Patrick, had sadly died aged 46.
Alongside the losses, however, Hollyoaks has snagged some major talent to help out behind the scenes. Lee Rayner, who has served as Head of Production on Coronation Street for over 10 years, is reportedly leaving the cobbles for a grittier challenge.
The TV exec has worked at ITV’s Coronation Street since 2011, putting in two years as an assistant director before filling the production manager role in 2013, and graduating to Head of Production in 2021. Before that, he gained credits in plenty of other shows, including Death in Paradise, Doctors, and The Bill.
Now, however, he’s ditching ITV for Channel 4, and moving over to Hollyoaks. According to Broadcast, Lee will take over the role from Colette Chard, who’s moving on to a kid’s drama run by the same production company, Lime Pictures, as Hollyoaks.
In a statement, Lee gushed: “I am thrilled to be embarking on a new adventure at Lime Pictures as head of production for Hollyoaks and helping to deliver such an engaging high-end drama.
“I’m also very excited to reunite once again with the incredibly talented Hannah Cheers and really looking forward to getting to know and working with the production team, who have an industry-wide reputation as highly-skilled filmmakers.”
