What happened to Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks? And where is actor Emmett J. Scanlan now?

16 April 2020, 15:17 | Updated: 16 April 2020, 15:22

Brendan Brady was played by Emmett J. Scanlan on Hollyoaks. Picture: Channel 4/Instagram/PA Images

Is Brendan Brady from Hollyoaks dead? And what do we know about actor Emmett J. Scanlan and his co-star wife Claire Cooper?

Brendan Brady arrived in Chester as Cheryl’s older brother back in 2010 and became one of Hollyoaks' most popular characters.

He quickly made a name for himself as the soap’s ‘bad boy’ and got involved in all kinds of dodgy dealings.

As well as drug smuggling, affairs and an ongoing feud with Warren Fox, Brendan (Emmett J. Scanlan) is most well known for his turbulent relationship with Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson).

But what happened to Brendan Brady and is he still alive? Find out everything…

What happened to Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks?

Brendan Brady is still alive, but he is currently in prison charged with killing his dad, Seamus.

In Brendan's final week, he finally admitted his love for Ste, before the pair agreed to run away from the village with Cheryl.

Brendan Brady and Ste Hay had a turbulent relationship. Picture: Channel 4

But as they went back to the flat, they found Seamus tied up with evil villain Walker standing over him with a gun.

Brendan managed to save his family and hand Walker in to the police, but after he escaped, the pair came face-to-face once more.

After getting into a fist fight, Brendan then pushed Walker into a moving train, instantly killing him.

Feeling like he was getting back on track, Brendan was able to open up to Ste about the abuse he suffered from his father when he was a child.

But when Seamus later tried to attack his son, Cheryl walked in on them and shot her dad to protect Brendan.

Covering for his sister, Brendan convinced Cheryl to let him take the blame. In a particularly emotional scene, the character was seen surrounded by armed police as Ste tried to get to him.

Brendan then muttered "In the next life, Steven”, before pulling his gun on police, wanting to be shot dead by police snipers.

In the final episode, it was revealed that he wasn’t killed and was recovering in hospital. When Ste came to visit, he told him that he "changed everything" before he was dragged away to prison.

Brendan Brady ended up in hospital. Picture: Channel 4

What is actor Emmett J. Scanlan doing now?

Emmett John Scanlan, 41, is an Irish actor from Dublin and has gone on to star in many TV programmes and films.

He appeared in the BBC Two drama The Fall in 2013 and 2014 and hitman movie Breakdown.

Emmett also acted in BBC Three's In The Flesh series 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Most recently, he played Billy Grade in Peaky Blinders and Josh Mason in the Netflix drama, Safe.

He also starred alongside Anna Friel in the ITV three-part series, Butterfly, where the pair played the parents of a transgender boy called Max who wants to live his life as a girl.

Emmett is married to his former Hollyoaks co-star Claire Cooper who played Jacqui McQueen.

The pair tied the knot in New York on New Year’s Eve 2015. Emmett also has a teenage daughter Kayla from a previous relationship.

Will Brendan Brady return to Hollyoaks?

It's unlikely Brendan Brady will return to Hollyoaks. In an interview with Irish Times about his career, Emmett revealed he left the soap after three years to pursue other roles.

He said: “There’s only so long you can stay there and then you run the risk of running the same storylines with different characters.

“You can also get too comfortable and I needed to feel the fear again. The producers were very accommodating of it. I tried to pitch my death but they weren’t having any of it.”