GABRIEL Clark and ljaz Rana have returned to Hollyoaks to film Juliet Nightingale’s funeral scenes.
Gabriel returns a year after he quit the role of troubled Ollie Morgan, while Ijaz – who only left a few weeks ago – played Imran Malik.
Hollyoaks star Gabriel Clark who played Ollie Morgan is returning to the soap for a one-off storyline
Imran Maalik was played by ljaz Rana, who left the village to move to London
The emotional episode will see troubled teen Juliet – played by Niamh Blackshaw – being laid to rest after she passed away in girlfriend Peri Lomax’s arms following her brave battle with cancer.
Gabriel shared: “It was such a privilege to return to Hollyoaks for Juliet’s funeral episode.
“I’ve known Niamh since we were kids and her performance has been phenomenal, to be able to honour her character and her work was a no-brainer.
“The storyline has been so well done, cancer really does affect everybody and bringing back Juliet’s friends shows how many lives one person can touch.”
Gabriel was the second actor to take on the role of Ollie Morgan in the long-running soap.
He replaced original star Aedan Duckworth after he was dramatically axed from the soap in 2020.
“Going back to set really felt like no time had passed, it was so lovely to pop my head into the offices and give everyone a hug and catch up,” he added.
“I came out of my dressing room and ran straight into to Steph Waring and Nick Pickard and gave them a massive hug – we were chatting away and catching up like nothing had changed.
“And to top it off I got to work with the brilliant director Bim Ajadi, his work is beautiful and I’m so pleased I got the chance to collaborate with him.”
Imran (ljaz Rana) only left the village last month to move to London to follow his dreams – with his best friend Juliet’s blessing.
Niamh Blackshaw played Juliet in Hollyoaks since 2018.
To coincide with the storyline, Hollyoaks embarked on a campaign, titled #OdeToMyJuliet.
It saw Niamh, Owen Warner (Romeo), Lucy-Jo Hudson (Donna-Marie) and Gregory Finnegan (James) take to the stage at Shakespeare North Playhouse to recite personal stories relating to cancer written by creative participants about their own experiences.
The first video can be found on Hollyoaks’ Official social media channels.
Hollyoaks aired Juliet’s heartbreaking death earlier this month
