To most, Hollyoaks is an anodyne soap peopled by interchangeable blonde actresses. But, unlike James Corden, star and co-writer of Gavin & Stacey, we did not have a small role in the Channel 4 teen series eight years ago.

“I’d actually rather die than go back,” Corden reminisces. “It’s f****** awful.”

After bagging a couple of Baftas, Corden can finally speak freely. “I can’t tell you the sheer disdain I have for the place and the people,” he tells Esquire. “I met a couple of really good friends there, but it’s [only] 20 per cent nice people. It just breeds p****s - all these people walking around with this chicken-in-a-basket fame, talking about going to LA, you know?” Corden is definitely going to LA after selling the Gavin & Stacey format to NBC.

But surely he has overlooked Hollyoaks alumni such as the lingerie model Gemma Atkinson and Sarah Jayne Dunn, who has a speaking role in The Dark Knight. Corden says his motto is: “Be nice to people and don’t do to others what they wouldn’t do to you.” We’re sure his Hollyoaks cohorts wish him well.

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