Channel 4 denies 'Hollyoaks' is being axed

Channel 4 denies reports that Hollyoaks is facing cancellation, after losing nearly half its audience this year.

According to The Sun, Hollyoaks was watched by more than 710,000 people per episode in January. That figure has dropped to an average of 450,000 for June.

Ratings have gone as low as 385,000 viewers - less than half of the 800,000 who tuned in to its best-performing instalment of the year on January 22.

Hollyoaks had more than 1m viewers per episode at the close of 2015, when its 20th anniversary celebrations that October boosted audience figures.

The article in The Sun quotes a TV insider, who said: “Ratings for Hollyoaks have been on a downward trajectory in 2019 and Channel 4 fear they won’t recover.

“It’s one of their most iconic programmes and has been on air for almost 25 years, so of course they don’t want to see it go.

“But they need to justify its existence and the numbers won’t have to go much lower before that becomes impossible. This is a last-ditch effort.”

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 told The Sun: “Hollyoaks epitomises our remit for serving young audiences across Channel 4 and E4 and we’re incredibly proud it was also recognised as the Best Soap at the British Soap Awards last month.”

The news comes after Hollyoaks recently scooped the award for Best Soap at the British Soap Awards, which Channel 4 bosses are said to be “shocked about.”

Cast members Gregory Finnegan, Nathan Sussex and Adam Woodward won Best Actor, Villain of the Year and Best Male Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards.

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 has since refuted the claims, telling us: “Hollyoaks is hugely valued and not under threat and we’re of course very happy and proud of the well-deserved Best Soap award win.

“It has a huge reach for 16-34 audiences, in fact our share of this demo on E4 – the first look episode – is up. Which means Hollyoaks is the only UK soap to be up year on year.”