The real-life soap couple celebrated a milestone after confirming their off-screen romance on social media.
Actress Ruby O’Donnell, who plays nurse Peri Lomax in Hollyoaks, sent a sweet birthday message to her co-star boyfriend and soap newcomer Nathaniel Dass, who plays Dillon Ray.
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Ruby, 23, has starred in the Channel 4 soap since 2013, while 22-year-old Nathaniel joined last year.
The two are rarely seen together on screen, but off camera they couldn’t be more in love.
On Nathaniel’s birthday, Ruby posted a photo of the two of them on Instagram, in which he hugs her and kisses her on the cheek.
She captioned the snapshots of their love with the words: “Happy birthday my darling, happiest with you.”
Their Hollyoaks co-stars rushed to the comments section to rave about the couple.
Ashley Taylor-Dawson, who plays the legendary Darren Osborne, wrote: “Okay… so this is all super cute!”
And Cleo McQueen star Nadine Mulkerrin said with a laughing emoji: “You two stop it!!! I smell more Hollyoaks babies in the future.”
Nadine, 31, found her fiancé Rory Douglas-Speed, 32, who plays Joel Dexter in Hollyoaks after joining in 2018.
The couple lives together and has two sons, Reggie, 5, and Dougie, 2.
In her snapshot, Ruby showed off her long legs in an orange dress while her boyfriend held her tightly by the waist and kissed her.
Nathaniel, on the other hand, looked chic in an oversized cream patterned shirt and black wide-leg pants.
The couple had previously confirmed their romance last month with a loving snapshot on Instagram.
The actress posed for a cuddle snap on a rooftop terrace in Ibiza and posted a red heart emoji in her caption.
The stars of Hollyoaks showered viewers with supportive comments, with Chelsee Healey, Alex Fletcher, Emma Johnsey-Smith and Kirsty-Leigh Porter all commenting with heart-eye emojis and hearts.
Deleted Hollyoaks characters
Who left?
Hunter McQueen – died after taking a questionable pill from Warren Fox.
Lizzie Chen-Williams – also died after taking a questionable pill from Warren Fox.
Mason Chen-Williams – left the village to live with his mother because he could not cope with the death of his sister.
Sharon Bailey – has left for Dubai to work.
Who’s going?
Warren Fox, Scott Drinkwell, Zain Rizwaan, Cindy Cunningham.
More rumors about departures
Dave Chen-Williams – recently unmasked as Gangster Blue – will he get caught?
Hilton Cunningham – Cindy’s young son could go with his mother.
Dilly Harcourt – Jeremy Blake’s revenge plan could lead to her exit.
Goldie McQueen – the actress is currently on maternity leave.
Carter Shepherd – arrested during controversial conversion therapy.
Who stays in the show?
Mercedes McQueen, Hannah Ashworth, Freddie Roscoe, Robbie Roscoe, Grace Black, Tony Hutchinson, Darren Osbourne, Nancy Osbourne.
Frankie Osborne actress Isabelle Smith followed with a similar message: “You guys.”
The Sun had previously revealed that the two were “secretly dating” after Ruby split from her ex-rugby player Sam Halsall last year.
Meanwhile, former members of “Hollyoaks” recently met for a big party ahead of the soap opera’s time jump.
Former Hollyoaks stars who attended the party included Gemma Atkinson, who played Lisa Hunter from 2001 to 2022.
Gemma shared her photos from the party with some of the former cast members on Instagram.
She captioned the post: “You can’t see these buddies for months, even years, but then when you’re back together it’s like nothing has changed.”
“The best crew and cast I’ve ever worked with. My very first job. I couldn’t have asked for a better start and better people around me when I entered this crazy industry at just 15 years old. Hollyoaks reunion 2024.”
Carly Stenson, who played Steph Cunningham from 2002 to 2011, was also in attendance, along with Lee Otway, who played David Burke from 2001 to 2011, and Kelly Condron, who played Zara Morgan from 1999 to 2023.
Nick Pickard, who plays Tony Hutchinson, and Ashley Taylor Dawson, who plays Darren Osbourne, were also in attendance, although they are still in the soap and will remain after the one-year time jump.
The party also featured Hollyoaks legend James McKenna, who plays Jack Osbourne, singing karaoke in front of a huge crowd of new and old cast members.
At the beginning of the year it was announced that 20 stars would be cut.
Many stars are set to be written out of the series as the show is being cut from five episodes per week to three. A concluding storyline also uses a bizarre “time jump” concept, with scenes being moved a year into the future.
In March, a source told The Sun: “Losing 20 cast members in one fell swoop is terrible and devastating news for the soap.”
“In the past, Hollyoaks has seen shock stunts that have claimed up to five lives in a single episode.
“But the days when soap operas would resort to major cast thinning with a disastrous stunt are long gone, especially with Hollyoaks, where the budget has been drastically cut.
“The number of fatalities required would make almost any stunt idea completely implausible.”
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