It’s a brand-spanking New Year and I’ve been very lax in keeping up with the so called “weekly” news summaries, but that’s what Christmas does to you! Surprisingly lots has happened this festive period, so take a breath and a read on…

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady

• There’s been too much Brendan screentime for me to go into great detail here, so you can of course just catch up here. But in summary? It was the end for Foxy, the beard, any residing fatherly both with Brendan and Joel, also the end for Britzeee friendship, the end of Ste’s barman career and a kiss with a randomer at the bar! Tonight’s episode saw psychology student Ash get involved after Brendan had rebuffed all sorts of psycho-analysis from the other villagers. Wherever this is heading for Brendan, Emmett seems very excited about it! 
• This week (Thursday’s E4) Brendan’s eldest son Declan returns to Hollyoaks having run away from home. It seems as if Brendan’s going to attempt to be a better father, but judging by spoilers - he’s finding that a bit tricky. Not only does it seem Brendan knocks out the sixth formers (no complaints here) Declan is going to take after his father in the loss of his temper, ending up with Declan doing a runner. Will Brendan ever catch a break?!
• Kieron Richardson did an end of year interview with DigitalSpy where he said the highlight of his year was working with Emmett and he also talked about Ste’s future.
• Some nice pictures of Emmett and Emmett and Kieron at the Oaks Christmas party here and here.
• And in case you missed the snippet (more on the Gay Times shoot later) turns out Kieron’s more of a tash fan than he makes out according to Emmett!

• Other things you might have missed over Christmas:
• - Brendan’s reading of a Hollyoaks Christmas Tale (which you can even download here) - swoon!
• - The Hollyoaks website launched TeamFoxy vs TeamTash during Warren’s departure - showing Hollie Jay Bowes (Michaela) as a Foxy supporter and Kieron Richardson as, obviously, TeamTash. 
• - Not only did Hollyoaks trend on Twitter loads over Christmas, but Brendan also made the top tweets in the UK one night.
• - Especially for this website, Emmett, Karen Hassan and Bronagh Waugh took this photo!
• - Andrew Still aka Joel Dexter gave an interview to Digital Spy where he revealed the nickname “Scottish Foxy” was an Emmett creation. 
• - Calvin Demba who plays student Scott was also very complimentary of Emmett in this snippet from an interview he gave.
• In DigitalSpy’s massive poll of the year, Emmett came in second place for Best Soap Actor and Most Entertaining Soap Character while the Silas plot nabbed best storyline and Hollyoaks was voted third best soap.
• - Emmett was interviewed in the Hollyoaks Best Bits show which you can view here. And Brendan admitting to Ste that he loved him made the viewer voted #2 OMG Moment!
• - ANOTHER gorgeous promotional Brendan photo can be seen here.
• - Sadly Emmett did not make the shortlist for the National TV Awards but you can still vote for Hollyoaks here.

Episode of the Week

• Okay so more like Episode of a Few Weeks Ago, but I promise to catch up with these soon.
• With 44.44% of the vote the favourite episode of the week (5th - 16th) was Brendan intimidating George in Price Slice, followed by Brendan winding Warren up with his Christmas decor (22.22%), bonding with Joel and Doug apologising (19.19%), trying to get Nancy and Mitzeee on side (7.07%), overhearing Nancy and Mitzeee’s conversation (5.05%), pallying up with Joel (2.02%) and finally the episode where Foxy took his clan to Paris came last with no votes.

Misc

• Just in case you missed it not only is Emmett naked in this month’s Gay Times magazine (buy it here for three pics and an interview, click buy latest issue) but he did two backstage interviews with DigitalSpy with more nakedness and great questions. 
• What was your favourite Brendan episode of the year? VOTE NOW!
• Want to send a birthday message and take part in the birthday project for Emmett? Click here.
• And finally a very happy new year to all! Seems rather lovely that the site hit 1,000 followers on Boxing Day - big thank you to you all!

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady

• Isn’t it so great to have him back?! Okay so if you saw Friday’s E4 you’ll have seen that Foxy, Scottish Foxy and Mitzeee are off on a jolly holiday to Paris so Brendan won’t be on screen until the end of the week - but this week has had some real Brendan gold. Cocktails, the return of Bruglas, tea with Nancy (Brendan loves high ceilings and knows a fake handbag when he sees it - LOVE it), moody standing in the rain and some cracking Britzeee stuff too. Catch up on everything that happened this week, HERE.
• The biggest news this week was an in-depth interview with new Exec Producer Emma Smithwick over at Digital Spy. You can of course read the whole thing but in summary, Brendan’s set for another busy year. I’ve seen people worrying that a) Ash and Brendan are going to have a relationship b) Emma Smithwick said Stendan are over. Neither are true and that was not what was said. Ash seems to be a psychology student analysing Brendan (not to mention she is a girl!!!) and Ste and Brendan are still going to be involved in each other’s lives - maybe not in a romantic sense until their issues are sorted - but who knows what will happen this year! Watch this space.
• Brendan’s great line “Scottish Foxy” in reference to Joel trended in the UK on Twitter on Monday which was brilliant. And he’s been full of the Fox jokes since he returned. The official site are offering viewers the chance to write their own joke for Brendan here.
• Hollyoaks Best Bits airs on E4 23rd December at 9pm and viewers have been given the chance to submit their own reenactment of a scene from this year so if you fancy your face on TV (or you’ve got a few Barbies around) then you can read here to find out more. And watch Ashley Taylor Dawson do a cracking Brendan impression. 
• Check out this gorgeous new cast shot Emmett has for Hollyoaks. I’ll be posting HQ versions of both the new cast shots within the next few weeks so look out for those.
• Andy Moss (Rhys) tweeted that secret goings on were happening in Chez Chez and then Danny Mac (Dodger) tweeted he’d been filming with Emmett, Nick Pickard (Tony), Ashley Taylor Dawson (Darren) and Jimmy McKenna (Jack).

Episode of the Week

• More votes this week than ever - thank you!
• So with a drumroll, the winner of episode of the week with a whopping 92.16% was E4 2 Dec - which included Brendan toying with the idea of make up, the infamous Scottish Foxy line, scoffing and a winning combination of Stendan angst and a lollipop! E4 1 Dec earned 4.48% of the vote where Brendan discussed scorpins and frogs with Warren and had a heart to heart with Chez and his brief return in E4 31 Nov had 3.36% of the vote.
• The next episode of the week poll coming soon…

Misc

• Emmett and Rachel Shenton have been out promoting the ASDA and Nikon promotion with the Coolpix cameras and a walk on part. And here’s the image used on the black camera boxes.
• Toby Everett has been editing his short film Big Top today, which stars Emmett.
• There’s a lovely photo of Emmett and cast on a night out and also Emmett with a man on set who was taking part in Movember
• Hope you’ve all been enjoying the ESF advent calendar! 

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady

• Cheryl’s already given Warren a warning to watch his back for Brendan’s return to the village (even if he has gone AWOL right now) and it certainly looks like he’s got something to worry about judging by these spoilers! Both Warren and Brendan want to get rid of each other - for good! With Mitzeee, Ethan and Theresa all involved it looks like it’s going to be the mother of all show-downs! And is Joel really Warren’s son like he claims to be? Or he working for Brendan?
• You might have noticed that all the cast are getting their character profile images updated and we finally got a glimpse of Brendan’s new photo. It’s swoonworthy to say the least. Especially when we’re missing him like crazy right now.
• After a few quiet days, Twitter seemed to give us a fair bit of news this week! Emmett’s been busy learning loads of lines and he, Bronagh and Kieron have been working together all week. Joe Tracini (better known as adorabley irritating Dennis Savage) and Emmett have clearly had banter offscreen too! Bronagh and Kieron tweeted with pride about the cinema release of Charlie Casanova too - awww.
• Inside Soap also got a bit swoony this week with this little blog post about Emmett, Brendan and Bronagh. This also means there will be an upcoming interview in Inside Soap soon.

Episode of the Week

• Thanks for all your votes for prisony week! (4-11 Nov)
• It was a runaway victory for E4 8 Nov with 51.67% I’m suspecting it was something to do with this particular shot as well as Brendan getting teary. Just guessing. Next was Brendan receiving the chess set (19.17%), Cheryl’s first visit with Brendan’s Bible reading (12.5%), Brendan trashing his cell (10.83%) and finally Brendan’s obsession with revenge as he speaks to Lynsey (5.83%).

Charlie Casanova

• The massive news this week is that Charlie Casanova is getting a full cinema release in the UK with Optimum/Studio Canal. Incredible news for all involved.
• No news on a release date yet, but will keep you posted.

Misc

• Emmett’s shot a short film (Big Top) this weekend on the Hollyoaks set and you can see photos behind the scenes here.
• Stephanie Davis posted a photo of her and Emmett backstage this week.

Hollyoaks - Brendan

• Another week gone by with Brendan still in prison for murders he didn’t commit (is anyone else finding it tortuous or is that a silly question?!) and the #FreeBrendan campaign rages on. The official website have up some great fanart and contributions here. They’re also asking for people to send in their very own “tashtag” like Jorgie Porter in this photo.
• The question everyone wants to know is when will Brendan be back? I can’t give you a date or a definite answer but there are at least two more weeks (maybe more) without Brendan to suffer through. No Cheryl, Ste, Silas or Lynsey either. I’ll keep you posted via Twitter when we get a return date.
• On the plus side Emmett has been back to work filming this week! He filmed scenes at a T.A. centre in Liverpool posing as a prison and that was with Bronagh Waugh and Karen Hassan.
• Emmett tweeted he thinks Brendan’s song in an episode should be Gay Bar by Electric Six(!)
• The Inside Soap Awards are tomorrow night - fingers crossed for Emmett and the rest of the Hollyoaks cast! Sadly they’re not televised but if any photos or coverage appears and Emmett attends you will be able to find it here!
• Speaking of awards there were some great photos of Emmett and Kieron posted from the TV Choice Awards where they decided to have a grab of each others’ faces!
• Listen to this amazing voicemail left by serial killer Silas where he taunts Brendan fans - it’s brilliant! 
• If you’re bored of the blackhole you can take part in a Quotes Quiz here and I’ll be posting other quizzes soon!

Episode of the Week

• Thanks to everyone that voted (over 130 of you!) for the episode of the week - 12th - 14th of September, it was an epic week!
• Winning the vote with 61.19% was the 13th of September which saw Brendan questioned by police and the villagers learn of his arrest. It was probably my favourite Hollyoaks episode as a whole for years. Second place was E4 12th September with 23.88% as Brendan discovered Rae’s corpse in the boot of his car - eek! Finally, 14.93% voted for E4 13th September which was our last sighting of Brendan - denied bail and teased by Foxy.

Other

• See Emmett wander in the background of the Hollyoaks Babes Calendar backstage shoot here! 
• Some gorgeous black and white photos of Emmett here and here.
• Photos of Emmett and Claire attending the relaunch of the Malmaison Hotel in Liverpool and Silverstone race track this weekend are here.

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady

• God what a week in Hollyoaks! No sooner was Brendan back from taking Declan to the airport was he thrown into turmoil by the dastardly Silas! First he was on a mission to locate Lynsey in the woods only to hear a mobile ringing from the boot of his sexy car. As soon as he saw the mass of Rae’s blonde hair the cops showed up! As the #FreeBrendan campaign launched (more on that later) Brendan was de-robed of his leather jacket and cross and locked up in grey trackies. And now that he’s been denied bail and Silas has scampered away to France, we’re looking at blackhole lasting at least two weeks (probably more!). Sad times for Brendan AND us.
• The reaction to Brendan’s arrest has been incredible! The official Hollyoaks site has launched a petition which you can sign and spread the word on Twitter with the hashtag #FreeBrendan. The official site are also asking for fanart and drawings inspired by the Free Brendan campaign so if you want to unleash your creative side then you can do here.
• Unfortunately Emmett didn’t pick up any awards for Hollyoaks at the TV Choice Awards this week but we were treated to some gorgeous pictures of him and Kieron Richardson at the awards. They were also interviewed on the red carpet by DigitalSpy which was very funny and about their favourite TV shows. Just to note the TV Choice Awards are not televised.
• Good news today was that Emmett has been shortlisted in the Inside Soap Awards for Best Actor and Best Newcomer. Some other Oaks nominees shortlisted are Bronagh Waugh for Funniest Performance, Claire Cooper for Best Actress and Kieron Richardson for Best Dramatic Performance. You can read the full list here(last post).
• Speaking of Inside Soap they posted an amazing cartoon of Silas and Brendan!
• Emmett featured in Alice Barlow’s backstage video shooting her final scene which you can view here.

Episode of the Week

• Staggering victory for the winning episode this week! With 87.07% (over 230 votes) the winner of Episode of the Week was Brendan telling Declan he’s gay and threatening Rae! Second place was Brendan confronting Silas (6.77%), Third was Brendan spitting out Silas’ drink and apologising to Lynsey, Brendan being fatherly and teaching Declan to shave won 1.5% of the vote, taking Declan home with 0.75% and helping Cheryl and Lynsey repair their friendship earned no votes.
• The next vote for Episode of the Week coming soon!

Charlie Casanova

• Massive congratulations to all involved with Charlie Casanova as it picked up another award, this time for Best Independent Feature Film at Dublin’s Underground Cinema Film Festival.
• Photo’s from last week’s festival can be found here and here.

Choose your favourite episode of the week!

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady

• Friday saw the return of Double B in his zippy jumper glory, backwashing Silas’ bitter like a mofo. And this next fortnight is going to be immense. Silas and Brendan talk killer to killer and Rae shouts her mouth off at the end of the week. So much is being kept secret about this fortnight - spoilers are leaving out a lot of juicy info and I get the feeling from the press office and Emmett himself that there are some big moments coming up!
• As usual, videos are here and spoilers here!
• If you missed my goss from Friday’s set visit - catch up here. Teasers for the future and insider info from the man himself Emmett Scanlan. You can see some photos of the day here too.
• Emmett and Claire appeared in Club Neo in Yeovil on Friday - photos from the event are here. If you attended feel free to share any comments below!
• Take a look at Emmett’s sexy calendar photo from the Hollyoaks Hunks 2012 calendar which you can already buy here - or just put it on your Xmas list! 

Episode of the Week

• It was only a two horse race this time! And the winner was E4 23 August with Lynsey leaving town and Brendan doing his “I see you” move to Silas (which Emmett improvised himself!) winning with 69.89%!
• No poll this week because we just had the one episode - so one on Friday instead!

Other Roles

• Charlie Casanova is being screened at the Arizona Underground Film Festival on the 17th of September and an article in the Dublin People promotes the film’s screening at the Underground Festival in Dublin as “Charlie Comes Home”.
• Also screening at Dublin’s Underground Festival, on the 9th of September, is Eoin Macken’s The Inside in which Emmett also stars.

Misc

• We all know it’s a crying shame there’s no Brendan in Later this year (violence, swearing, shagging - that’s made for Brendan right?!) but it looks like it could be the best set of late night specials they’ve ever done. So if you’re in the UK and able to watch then 10pm E4 tomorrow is where it all kicks off! Watch the trailer for it here!

Only two to choose from this week!

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady

• Ding-ding (as Brendan might say) let Brendan VS Silas commence. This week saw them partake in a stare off, bad-ass to bad-ass style as Lynsey left the village for a break. Brendan dealt with her rejection of his smooth (but cringeworthy) moves by, of course, blaming her and thinking she’d well and accusing her of losing it. More noteworthy this week was Brendan in a towel and dressing gown in the bathroom (more opening sequences like this please Hollyoaks gods) and his nifty impression of Lynsey.
• Brendan’s back on screen this coming Friday on E4 (2 September) and looks as he tries to mend Cheryl and Lynsey’s friendship and teach Declan how to shave. Whether moustache shaping lessons will be part of the technique we will have to wait and see! And Rae seems to be sticking her nose in next week as well! All the spoilers are here!
• There might be Silas shaped danger around the corner if the scan from All About Soap is anything to go by, as Brendan goes looking for a missing Lynsey. Uh oh. 
• Emmett was seen dancing away to Katy B behind the Chez Chez bar in this week’s Hollyoaks Music Show. He’s bound to crop up in future episodes too so keep your eyes peeled!

Episode of the Week

• A very clear result this week! 77% voted for the episode which saw Brendan hit Ste again and talk about his past outside the police station. 11% voted for Declan asking Brendan about gay people (and Brendan choking on his burger), 5% for Brendan deciding he needed to find a girlfriend, 4% for Brendan’s explanation to Declan as to why he his still and finally 3% voted for Brendan making the moves on Lynsey.
• Thank you to the 200+ people who voted last week!

Charlie Casanova

• Charlie Casanova is screened in Brisbane Underground Film Festival on October 14th.
• And if you thought Brendan had a bad streak then Charlie is a whole lot worse as Emmett explained in this article. 

Misc

• Loads of pictures of Emmett sporting his beard this week: V Festival, a PA and a wedding.
• Speaking of PAs, Emmett and Claire will be at Club Neo in Somerset on Friday 2 September.
• Sadly Hollyoaks Later is Brendan-less this year but it does look pretty awesome. There’s a trailer for it here.
• Last week, if you’re interested, I also uploaded some old Ste episodes with his mother, step father and a more recent one from 2010 where Amy’s boyfriend thought he and Josh Ashworth were a couple!
• Bronagh Waugh and Kieron Richardson have teamed up off screen to host their own radio show on Gaydio called the KeeBroShow aired every Sunday 4-6pm.