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Hollyoaks star Louis Emerick's life off-screen including Brookside fame and huge family - The Mirror


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Daily Mirror

Hollyoaks star Louis Emerick's life off-screen including Brookside fame and huge family

Louis Emerick is best known for playing Mick Johnson in Brookside for 12 years and is now set to make a shock return to the soap in a crossover episode with Hollyoaks

Louis Emerick is most famous for his portrayal of Mick Johnson in Brookside over a 12-year period.


The performer brought Mick to life across 1037 episodes, despite initially being cast for just one appearance in the Channel 4 Merseyside-based series.


Mick began as a cab driver but later transformed into a shopkeeper operating local businesses including the corner shop and fish and chip shop.


Louis took on the character from 1989 through to 2001, stating he wished to focus on cinema and stage work at the time.

He subsequently featured in Benidorm, Waterloo Road, Casualty and Last of the Summer Wine before joining Hollyoaks as Donny Clark in 2024, reports the Liverpool Echo.


In September 2014, the performer took on the character of Horse in the travelling stage show of The Full Monty.

To celebrate Hollyoaks' 30th milestone, Channel 4 executives have planned a crossover instalment with Brookside, unveiling that Donny is in fact Mick in a startling revelation.

Mick was thought to have perished two decades ago, but he's been maintaining a dual existence as detective Donny, with his secret poised to rock his loved ones in Hollyoaks.


Discussing the crossover instalment, Louis revealed: "All is not as it seems and we can safely say it's connected to the Brookside crossover. The house of cards is going to start collapsing.

"I was taken to a park to meet with Hollyoaks' Executive Producer Hannah Cheers one day, I thought I was getting my P45. We walked and talked and she explained the story.

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"At the time I thought it was an April fool! She was so excited and I got swept away with it. This will be fun for the viewers."

Louis, a native of Toxteth in Liverpool, born to a Liberian father and British mother, is the youngest of 10 siblings. The actor, who is married to Maureen Emerick, is a proud father of five.

Hollyoaks airs Monday to Wednesday on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed Channel 4 from 7am

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