Hollyoaks Star Bids Farewell with Heartfelt Post Reflecting on His 'Best Years' in the Soap

A Hollyoaks star has confirmed his departure from the soap with a farewell social media post, after nine years on the show.

Rory Douglas Speed, 33, who portrayed priest Joel Dexter since 2016, announced his exit from the long-running soap on Monday, after nearly a decade on the program.

Rory marked the conclusion of his time on Hollyoaks with an emotional Instagram post, describing his experience on the show as “the best years of my life!”

The actor played the character Joel Dexter, first appearing on screen in 2016.

Rory found love on the show with his now fiancée Nadine Mulkerrin, who played Cleo McQueen.

The Scottish actor, whose character was the long-lost son of the show’s popular bad boy Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas), shared a series of images from the set, including photos with co-stars, describing his time on the show as “the best years of my life.”

In the caption, he wrote: “Well GOODBYE [Hollyoaks], it’s been the best years of my life!”

“To everyone in that studio who welcomed me in, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! - and especially the fans! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Hopefully, you’ll see me in something else soon! [heart and rainbow emojis].”

The news of Rory’s exit was first reported by The Sun back in June, indicating that the actor chose to leave the show to focus on other opportunities.

The heartfelt post garnered over 10,000 likes, with fans and co-stars quickly flooding the comments section to wish him well in his next chapter.

His fiancée, Nadine Mulkerrin, who he met on the show while portraying Cleo McQueen, left a sweet tribute to his character in the comments, praising his work.

She wrote: “I welcomed you in big time lol [heart emoji] I love you, so proud of you!! Bye Joel! Certified fittest priest in soap.”

Anna Passey, who has played Sienna Blake on the soap for thirteen years, posted a series of heart emojis in the comments after sharing his last on-set photos.

Former Hollyoaks and Corrie star Lucy-jo Hudson also shared kind words with her co-star, writing: “AH mate, loved working with you [hands up emoji] wishing you the best for your next ventures [clap emoji] not that you’ll need it x.”

Rory’s next steps remain uncertain, though the father of two may use some of this downtime for wedding planning, as he and fiancée Nadine get closer to tying the knot after announcing their engagement in December 2018.

The Sun reported this exclusively back in June.

A source said: “It was a tough decision for him to make to leave, but it’s right for the character and for Rory himself.”

“He’s cherished the last nine years and all that has come with it, but he really wants to spread his wings.”

“And the time is right. The bosses were very kind, and the door has been left open for Joel to return one day, so it’s not goodbye by any means.”

Fans may be puzzled by Joel’s exit, as it didn’t seem like a final farewell.

Instead, the character was questioned regarding the murder of his brother Tommy, who had actually been killed by serial killer Jez Blake.

His final scenes depicted him locked up in a prison cell, being warned by DI Banks that he would spend a few days behind bars while they investigated Tommy’s murder.

The Sun understands that these are Rory’s final scenes, and he will not appear for a while.