Exclusive: Hollyoaks promises huge shock in Imran's mystery love interest story

Hollyoaks spoilers follow.

Hollyoaks star Charlotte Riley has revealed that fans will be "shocked" when they discover the truth about Imran Maalik's mystery love interest.

Charlotte's character Leah Barnes was engaged to marry Imran earlier this year, but a series of cryptic scenes indicated that he still had feelings for someone from his past.

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At one point, Imran even had a secret meeting with the individual in question, but viewers were kept in the dark over their identity.

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Charlotte teased: "Leah definitely doesn't have a clue! I guess we're all waiting around for the grand reveal of who this girl is. Who is she?

"I feel like it's a big wait, but it's worth it and people will be shocked. I was shocked when I realised who it was."

Asked whether Leah and Imran could ever make their romance work again, after it was destroyed by Leah cheating with Prince McQueen, Charlotte replied: "I do like them together but it depends how much you can take in a relationship. There has to be a point where enough is enough, if you can trust people or not."

Meanwhile, Leah takes centre stage in a huge cliffhanger this week as she discovers that her brother Lucas seems to be implicated in the disappearance of their dad Ste.

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Just when Leah confronts Lucas over the situation, she loses her footing and takes a dramatic tumble down the city stairs.

"Leah has not really doubted her brother – she's stood by him," continued Charlotte. "If that was to be the case, that he was behind parts of it or all of it, you just wouldn't know what to believe ever again. You wouldn't have any trust in yourself. It's really isolating anyway, not really knowing who to trust! So if it was Lucas, she'd be really heartbroken.

"It also looks bad on Lucas after the fall, because he just leaves her! I feel like you either fight or flight in that situation. Some people would run and help, but he just didn't know what to do, stood still and ran away!"

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Charlotte expressed hope that the family can unite if Ste ever does make a return.

"If anything, it would bring you closer together," she said. "If you've lost someone and you get them back, it makes you realise what you've got around you.

"I know Ste has put the kids through a lot but it doesn't really matter, it always brings you back a lot closer.

"I love filming family scenes because you just have such a good laugh. It's lot of fun and you get through it all together. They're definitely my favourite scenes."

Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming premiere at 7am, then an E4 broadcast the same night at 7pm. Full episodes are also released on YouTube a week after their Channel 4 release.

Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.

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