Hollyoaks viewers were left utterly shocked as the soap’s new time jump era kicked off with a bombshell – Leah Barnes is pregnant!
The Channel 4 show, which has leapt forward by one year, had fans on the edge of their seats during Monday’s (September 16) episode. The soap’s bosses have been dropping hints about future plots on social media, including a snap of two unidentified characters flaunting baby bumps.
The mystery was finally solved in the latest streamable episode when pregnant Leah and Leela Lomax (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) were seen at James Nightingale’s (Gregory Finnegan) graveside, who tragically died in a car blast.
While Leah’s dad Ste Hay (Kieran Richardson) miraculously survived the explosion and is now comatose, Leah went into labour, delivering her beautiful child by the episode’s close. Dillon Ray (Nathanial Dass) was praised for being a “really good friend” during her pregnancy, especially since her brother Lucas Hay (Oscar Curtis) is detained in a youth facility.
But some eagle-eyed fans pieced together a scandalous theory: could Dillon be the father of Leah’s baby, having betrayed his boyfriend Lucas?, reports the Mirror.
One viewer took to X, previously known as Twitter, to express their disbelief: “I swear to god if Hollyoaks has made Dillon get Leah pregnant during the time jump #hollyoaks.”
One fan was on the edge of their seat, saying: “If Dillon is Leah’s baby daddy, I will scream! Dillon betraying Lucas like that is so out of character in my opinion.”
Another chimed in with a bit of doom and gloom: “I hate to say this but Dillon is DEFINITELY the father of Leah’s baby.” A third social media sleuth reckoned: “Does anybody else think Dillon could be the dad of Leah’s baby?”.
As Leah popped out her sprog, she hollered “Dad” and all eyes were on Ste as he flicked open his peepers, waking from a year-long snooze in a coma but what’s he gonna say about his girl getting knocked up? And why’s Lucas banged up?
The soapland grapevine hasn’t confirmed who’s the daddy of Leah’s tot just yet, and whispers are flying that Ela-May Demircan might be bowing out after a 13-year stint as Leah. This comes hot on the heels of rumours about staff cuts and a bunch of actors waving goodbye to the show, which is cutting down to three eps a week.
