'Hollyoaks’ Gary Lucy was reduced to a “blubbering wreck” after filming his final scene following his 23 years on the soap.
Gary Lucy was overcome with emotion filming his ‘Hollyoaks’ exit
The 40-year-old actor's alter ego Luke Morgan is set to pass away in emotional scenes after battling frontotemporal dementia and he admitted the plotline struck a chord because his grandmother had the condition for over a decade.
He told The Sun newspaper: “It was a story that I really wanted to tell and there was only one way it could end – with Luke’s tragic death.
“Young person dementia has never been shown on British TV before and sadly like so many others dementia is an illness that has touched my family.
“My Nan was diagnosed with dementia back when I was doing ‘Dancing on Ice’ in 2010 and it’s absolutely horrendous. It really is such an awful disease."
Although Gary knew the storyline would end with his exit, it has still been "really hard" to say goodbye to his castmamtes and he "completely lost it" when he finished filming for good.
He added: “I always knew it was going to mean that Luke would die, but it’s been hard saying goodbye, really hard.
“Every time I was doing a scene with someone we’d realise that it would be our last one together and I was in absolute bits.
“They’re getting upset, I’m trying not to get upset, but you can’t help it because the memories are just massive.
“We’ve all grown up together so to finish each scene with these people and re-live the memories, well it’s been very emotional.
“And then after I filmed my final ever scene everyone came down with flowers and I just completely lost it.
“I was trying to get my words out to thank everyone for all the support they’d given me over the years but it was hard because I was proper blubbering. I was a blubbering wreck.”
The actor - who returned to the show in 2017 after a 15-year break admitted he drew on his nan's own struggle and his family's response for his portrayal of Luke in recent years.
He added: “We had to say goodbye to my Nan three times during lockdown.
“They’d call us and say she’s not eating and you have to come. One time was through a window which was absolutely horrendous, but then she pulled through.
“It’s a complete rollercoaster for the family.
“I drew on a lot from my Nan sadly I was able to from the experience, the vacant looks, you could be having a conversation and realise half-way through that they are not there, the eyes are glazed over. I did draw upon on that and my mum was a massive help too.”
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