I give up Hollyoaks for Hollywood however ended up repairing telephone screens for a dwelling

Paul Danan has had quite the career, soaring to fame as Sol Patrick in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks before an appearance on Celebrity Love Island made him one of the most recognisable faces on British television in the early 2000s.

His own TV shows, parts in movies and the hedonistic Hollywood lifestyle that often accompanies the world of the celebrity soon followed, with Paul seemingly living the good life. 

However, while there certainly were highs, Paul experienced some difficult lows, having faced a well publicised drug addiction, numerous rehab stints and a struggle in between acting jobs that even forced him to repair phones screens to make ends meet. 

But despite everything that life’s thrown at him, Paul remains a fighter, who has battled his way through some dark times – including a near-death experience following a vaping addiction – to become the person he is today.

These days, the only thing Paul is addicted to is helping people, with the actor proudly running his Morning After Drama group and prison workshops which help those struggling with addiction and mental health issues.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Paul, 46, opened up on the ups and downs of his varied career, including his regrets over saying goodbye to Hollyoaks and why Celebrity Love Island hampered his prospects. 

The actor, who trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, played the role of Sol in the soap between 1997 to 2001.

But at the height of his soap fame, he left wanting to make it big in Hollywood for fear he’ll be typecast as a soap actor.

Though the bright lights of Hollywood did offer some huge opportunities for the thespian, Paul struggled to cope with the rejection and isolation from his loved ones, with the star being drawn down the dark path of drugs. 

Reflecting on his decision to leave the soap, Paul explained: ‘It’s very tough. I mean, maybe years ago I shouldn’t have left Hollyoaks, but I made that decision because after four years, I didn’t want be typecast and back then, everyone didn’t want to be the next Ken Barlow. You wanted to go off and play different roles, especially when you’re a real actor. 

‘I needed to play different roles, I mean how many storylines can one character have?  I wanted to go to LA and I did. And I got very close to some very big, big films and things like that. But the rejection… the one thing I hate in life is rejection. 

‘I chose the one job in the world that that gives you that, go figure! But at the same time, I love it more than anything, just to be there on set and to be part of that world. It is everything that I always trained for.

‘Acting is a tough job and I think you don’t realise how lucky you are when you’re in a soap and you’ve got the closest thing to a nine to five  job in acting that you can get. And when you get out there, you’re like s**t, man, it is really tough!’

Despite trying to make it big in a difficult industry, Paul managed to find some success, landing a number of presenting jobs, adverts and film roles.

However, it was an appearance on the original series of Love Island in 2005 (then known as Celebrity Love Island) that got people really talking about Paul – for both good and bad reasons.

Starring alongside a cast of noughties TV personalities including Rebecca Loos, Lee Sharpe and Jayne Middlemiss, Paul certainly stood out thanks to his raucous behaviour and larger-than-life persona – making him ratings gold.

But while British TV fans loved seeing the cheeky chappy on their screens, Paul reflected that his appearance on the reality show proved to have a negative effect on his acting career.

Looking back on that period in his life, Paul explained: ‘It was a detriment to my acting career because it didn’t help.  Maybe if I had stayed in the background and didn’t make a big splash, I would probably have been alright. But you know me, if I’m on a show, I’m going to give it my all and be TV gold!

‘It didn’t help with my acting career because suddenly people were like “oh, we don’t want to hire a reality star!’ Casting directors were a bit snobby like that, they don’t people want to see me on a TV show thinking “isn’t that the guy from Love Island?” It wasn’t good for my acting career and it took a long time to get that back. I don’t know if it’s even fully redeemed even all these years later.

‘Back then in 2005/6/7, if you’re going to be on a reality show, that’s what you were known for. People suddenly forgot that I was on Hollyoaks for four years and that I was in films and did theatre and was classically trained. 

‘Suddenly when you make such a big splash on a reality show… that is so powerful. It’s just six weeks but suddenly casting directors are like “we can’t have him because he was on that Love Island!”‘

Having been in the industry for almost 30 years, Paul is now passing on his experience to his students at his drama school, where he’s been preparing them for all sides of the acting world – including the possibility that they may be out of work at some point.

Something Paul only knows too well during his years as a jobbing actor, with the star explaining how he wasn’t afraid to put in some hard graft to get by in between jobs.

Whilst living in Los Angeles, Paul told how he would often see actors working in McDonald’s while waiting for their next big part, with he himself having taken up a ‘normal job’ to get some extra cash in the interim.

‘I worked in a place called I Smashed It, which is where if you if you drop your iPhone or your phone and the screen smashes, then we’ll fix the screen for you. I was working there for a bit, probably about 10 years ago. And that was just to get a bit of money on the side.’

Detailing the various work he’s done over the years, he continued: ‘I’ve worked in recruitment. I used to work in Ted Baker. I worked in the markets when I was younger and I’ve worked in different clothes shops and stuff like that. And of course in between jobs, you have to still do that. 

‘But when you get to kind of like, the real professional side that I am at, it’s very difficult now for me to go and do a little job in Tesco’s or the travel agent or whatever. And that’s what makes it even harder because you know financially, you don’t know when your next paycheck is coming.’

Paul went on to detail the impact being in between acting work has on ones finances and why sometimes saying yes to reality shows is called for.

‘I am not on benefits or anything like that. But I have a little one [son Deniro, eight] I have to pay for and the cost of living at the moment it’s crazy’ he explained.

‘So I do struggle sometimes because I’m not on the telly all the time. You don’t know when the next gig is coming, and hence the reason why the reality shows, some of the time I said yeah, because I needed to pay bills. And I probably didn’t want to do a reality show did I? I should have just stuck to my acting.’

Like, other reality contestants who’ve openly declared they’re taking part for the paycheck, Paul admitted he’s no different, adding: ‘Yeah, I’ve said that a few times.’

He added: ‘You do enjoy it and it’s fun and you get to be on the telly. When I did Celebrity Love Island and then they asked me back for the second year, I didn’t know if I wanted to go through all of that. But I did it because I needed the money at the time.

‘Well I did it because I wanted to but at the same time, you don’t know if when you’re going to earn that kind of money again. It’s one of those things where it’s very attractive those amounts.’

Bringing things back to today, Paul is sharing his knowledge and experience of the industry to attendees of his drama school Morning After Drama (MAD], a passion project which was conceived during the Covid pandemic in 2020. 

Morning After Drama helps those recovering from addiction, for neurodivergent people and those with mental health issues.

As well as free weekly workshops in Bristol, Paul heads out to prisons, rehabs and neurodivergent schools where he helps those with an interest in the arts boost their confidence and learn new skills.

Paul’s passion about his project is clear to see, with the TV star saying of his work: ‘It’s about giving back really. I deliver drama for free in the communities. It gives them sense of escape in a healthy way and it helps them with their confidence, and I role play all different things, from relationships, job interviews skills or just to have a laugh. We write and produce plays which build to performances and it’s been really successful.

‘It really has changed people’s lives and helped a lot of people, it’s been overwhelmingly rewarding.’

Paul then took stock of the importance of the drama workshops and acknowledged that once upon a time, it could have been himself attending something like this amid his own struggles.

Just months ago, the former soap star was on the ‘brink of death’ and needing an oxygen tank after his ‘obsessive’ vape usage caused respiratory failure.

Paul expressed his anger than medical professionals advised he switch to vapes to stop him smoking and warns more needs to be done to highlight the unknown danger long-term vaping can have on individuals. 

With his own troubles firmly in the back of his mind, Paul is more determined than ever that his drama school continues to be a success, though he fears for its future amid funding struggles.

Despite receiving a lottery grant, Paul admits he’s still struggling to keep the project afloat, with the organisation also having a linked charity, called The Other Side of Morning, which he says is in desperate need of Go Fund Me donations.

He said: ‘I’m hoping and praying that something does come soon because the last thing I want to say to everyone is “it’s not happening anymore”. They rely on it and it’s something to come to every week. 

As the former Celebrity Big Brother star – who is currently rehearsing for an upcoming play and writing his own screenplay – continues to help those with an interest into getting into TV and film, Paul hasn’t given up his own dreams, and has his eye on a Netflix role.

Fans will just have to wait and see whether that certain dream will become a reality.