Another Hollyoaks star takes over from Owen Warner in iconic theatre show - here's who

Owen Warner is set to be succeeded by a fellow Hollyoaks star in his stage role for Witness for the Prosecution. The actor has been starring in the Agatha Christie play since earlier this year as Leonard Vole, a young man accused of murdering an elderly widow.

It has now been confirmed that Owen's role will be taken over by Matthew McGivern, who played the role of Sam Chen-Williams in Hollyoaks.

He joins the new iteration of the cast alongside a fellow soap star, Emmerdale's Sophie Craig, as Romaine Vole, while Jo Stone-Fewings is back as Sir Wilfrid Robarts QC, Crispin Redman returns as Mr Mayhew, Jude Owusu is Mr Myers QC and David Shaw-Parker is Mr Justice Wainwright.

Find tickets: Witness for the Prosecution

Other cast members include Sahar Awad, Philip Battley, William Baylis, Siobhan Bevan, Garon Akbar Clark, Michael Cusick, Anthony Ofoegdu, Sean Paul Jenkinson, Io Munro, Caroline Partridge, Tom Richardson and Tristan Rivelle.

Witness for the Prosecution is being staged at County Hall in London, with the new cast set to take over from 22 September. The show has also been extended to 19 September, 2027.

Speaking to Digital Spy earlier this year, Owen opened up about taking to the stage, sharing: "In my eyes, theatre has always been the purest form of acting, so it was where I wanted to be. When I heard about Witness for the Prosecution, I went to watch it and I thought it would be an absolute dream to be part of.

"I had a friend who had been in it before and I mentioned it to her, so she said that she'd reach out to them. I also mentioned it to my agent, who reached out as well. So I had two different angles going for it! (Laughs.) I was very fortunate to get an audition and took it from there."

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As for his future beyond Witness for the Prosecution, he teased: "Doing this stage job has opened up a whole new world of projects that I would love to do. I love screen, I love stage, I love acting.

"After this, if I can play characters that excite me as much as Leonard Vole does, I'll be a very happy man. It's an honour to play a character that has such history, is written so well and is so fascinating."

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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