McCarthy: 'I'm gutted Zoe's not returning'

Taken from Digital Spy.

Hollyoaks departee Gerard McCarthy has revealed that his former castmate Zoë Lister was approached to film a short stint for his departure but was unavailable.

The 29-year-old - who plays bisexual crossdresser Kris Fisher in the Channel 4 soap - confirmed earlier this year that he is to bow out of the serial in the coming months to pursue other projects.

With details of his screen departure being kept tightly under wraps, McCarthy did reveal on the red carpet at this year's British Soap Awards that his former colleague Zoë Lister - who was written out last year - was asked to return for the occasion.

He told DS: "I did ask if Zoë was going to come back and I think Zoë was unavailable. I'm gutted that she's not. It would have been nice for Zak, Kris and Zoë to all leave together because we all started on the same day."

Watch the full interview here

Zoe Lister - Inside Soap Magazine - 23-29 of Jan.

Here is an article from this weeks Inside Soap mag about Zoe's exit from Hollyoaks, Zoe Lister herself talks about it, I typed it up plus if you just click on the image above it should enlarge!

It’s a bittersweet farewell for Zoe Carpenter as she leaves Chester to travel the world this week. After everything she’s been through, it’s not surprising the poor girl wants to get away - but she does take a couple of companions with her as she embarks on her adventure…

“Zoe was accused of murdering her best mate, Sarah Barnes, got stabbed by Lydia and failed her degree so she hasn’t exactly been in a good place,” says Zoe Lister, who plays the globetrotting blonde. “She’s realised the value of life and how short it is, so she really wants to make the most of things.”

To begin with, Zoe prepares to go away with pal Kris - and soon everyone wants to join them. “Zak and Michaela are keen on the idea, and so is Hannah.” explains Zoe. “Kris and Zoe try to persuade Nancy to go, but she has too many responsibilities with little Charlie. There could have been a mass exodus!”

However, one by one, Zoe’s mates drop out and she has second thoughts about her trip - until former flame Mike intervenes. “She feels scared about going on her own - then she bumps into Mike , who spurs her on,” shares Zoe. “They have a chat and she inadvertently gives him an invite to go travelling as well. So, at the last minute, he turns up. Zoë’s a little bemused by it all, but then decides it’ll be fun and they should go together.”

What the ex-lovers don’t bargain on, however is Gilly accompanying them on their trip. “Things aren’t working out with Steph , so Gilly wants to get away,” reveals Zoe. “I don’t think he’s the travelling type, though , so im not sure how long he’ll be gone.”

Emotions run high as Zoe says goodbye to her loved ones - but will it be a sunset ending for her and Barnesey? “No, it’s not - Tony Hirst [Mike] and I have discussed the fact that they leave in the same taxi, but essentially do their own thing and meet up here and there,” muses Zoe. “They’ve been through such a lot together and this resolves their story. Im so glad Zoe gets a happy ending.”


OVER THE RAINBOW

Zoe felt sentimental about leaving Hollyoaks after almost four years, and admits that her last day on set was poignant. “We shoot out of sequence but my last scene was Zoe walking through the village,talking to herself,” she recalls. “It was chucking it down and, all of a sudden this massive double rainbow came out. That was very emotional for me as well as a bit weird.”


Jx

Zoe's Hollyoaks exit will be on the 27th of January!

Zoe Lister will be leaving our screens as Zoe Carpenter on the 27th of January on Channel 4! She will leave to go travelling around Europe but who will be joining her? Tune in at 6.30pm to find out.

I'm going to miss her loads as im sure alot of you are but im sure we'll see her in something else very soon!

Question is, what on earth am I going to watch now?! haha.

Keep checking back for all the Zoe Lister news etc!
Add the blog to your favourites if you like!


Jx.

Exit left 'hole' in Zoe's life

Hollyoaks actress Zoe Lister has revealed that the exit of former co-star Loui Batley has left "a hole" in her life.

Loui - who played Sarah Barnes for four years - left the Channel 4 soap in October 23 after her character was killed off in a skydive, and Zoe, who plays wannabe filmmaker Zoe Carpenter, said: "There's definitely been a hole left in my working life.
"But it's been so busy that it's quite hard to digest that I've been working with different people a lot more, which has been nice because you get in a new little bubble."

On-screen, the duo were best friends and shared a drunken encounter, as well as laughs and rows.

Zoe added: "I really miss her actually. We were just in such a bubble for months working together and obviously the Late Night episodes were really great fun to work on, particularly because we do all sorts of funny stunts."

Aww that's so cute...

Jx.

Zoe Lister DS Interview

Here is an interview with Zoe form Digital Spy! LOL at the icicle thing!

Zoe Carpenter fans will have been somewhat pleased by the outcome of Thursday night's episode of Hollyoaks Later. Not because Sarah (Loui Batley) met her maker, but because Zoe didn't!

However, there's a tough time ahead for the Hollyoaks student over the coming weeks as she's forced to deal with the fallout of Lydia (Lydia Kelly) planting the knife she cut the parachute cords with in Zoe's belongings. Having been arrested at the end of the last episode of this year's Later, Zoe now has a fight on her hands to prove her innocence.

Whether that happens remains to be seen, but my guess is that it all goes to trial. We know that Zoë's leaving, so with that in mind, here are a few bonus morsels from my time with her.

Do you think a relationship between Zoe and Sarah would have worked?
"Who knows! I think Sarah would really like it but Zoe would always be like, 'No, no', but Zoe's still young. Who knows what she might decide? I think, inherently that Zoe's not a lesbian. She's just experimental and a free spirit."

Where does Zoe go from here?
"She's in a very difficult place. She's lost her best friend and there's so much history there and she's finished her degree - well she didn't even finish her degree, she failed that - so she's in a limbo land anyway. She's working silly jobs and she's not in a very good place at all in any aspect of her life. Oh, and she's in prison on suspicion of murder..."

How do you leave the series?
"I have an idea but nothing's been actually written yet. I like the sound of it, though. I guess there's only so many ways you can leave a soap. You either die - and there's been quite enough deaths recently - or you get carted off to prison or leave in a taxi to go somewhere else..."

If you could invent a death for Zoe...
"I think it would be death by falling icicle in the head - I read that in a book and thought it was really cool!"

When are you due to finish filming?
"I haven't finished filming the main show yet as I don't leave on screen before the year's out."

Was it a difficult decision to decide to leave?
"It wasn't difficult in a lot of ways because if you've done a good three years in a soap it's just your time. It wasn't something I really struggled with. I knew a year ago that this was probably going to be my last year. I wasn't desperate to leave because it's awful or anything, because I've had such an amazing time and met amazing people and got an amazing start to my career. I was keen to see what else can be done. I'd really like to do some theatre next but you really can't plan it. It's such a weird career to have. I'll probably be working in an actual call centre before I know it!"

Jx.

Secret HO scenes..

A TOP secret episode of a popular Channel 4 television soap has been filmed in Burton, The Mail can exclusively reveal.

Three main characters from the cast of Hollyoaks, which is normally set in Chester, filmed the scenes at Tatenhill Airfield.

Airfield staff looked on in astonishment as cast members Lydia Kelly, Loui Batley and Zoe Lister, who play Lydia Hart, Sarah Barnes and Zoe Carpenter, rolled up at the airfield for the two-day filming session on Wednesday.

Hollyoaks chief had ordered that the filming be conducted in secret with a ban placed on airfield workers talking about the visit.

However, the Mail can reveal that the filming, which began on Wednesday and continued yesterday, was for a dramatic episode of the soap in which a leading character from the cast dies.

While staff at Tatenhill have been told by Channel 4 bosses and film crews to remain tight-lipped over the exact details of the particular storyline, it is known that two of the characters are to leave the soap soon, with one of them making a ‘tragic’ exit.

Now speculation is mounting that one of the actors involved in this week’s filming will meet a bloody end during the episode flmed at Tatenhill.

An airfield source said: “We were amazed when televsion trucks arrived a n d they set up all their gear to start filming at the airfield. The three girls from the show were all there.

You would expect them to be all dressed to the nines, but actually they looked pretty ordinary.” Actress Loui Batley’s character has been a main member of the cast since joining in 2005, followed by Zoe Lister. Lydia Hart joined the soap this year.

The scenes filmed at Tatenhill are due to be aired in October.