Inside Hollyoaks’ Osborne family from Jack to Darren
ROCKING up Chester for the first time in November, 1996, the Osborne clan have been involved in some explosive storylines.
But with all the breakups and shake-ups in Hollyoaks, it's easy to lose track of who exactly is part of the family.
Jack Osborne
Portrayed by Jimmy McKenna, Jack William Osborne is the son of Aggie Osborne and the half-brother of Kenneth Osborne.
While Kenneth has never been seen in the eponymous Channel 4 village, Jack first arrived in Hollyoaks in November, 1996, with his first wife Celia and son Darren in tow.
The trio join Jack's daughter Ruth and he quickly becomes the new landlord of The Dog in the Pond.
But while business is blossoming, Jack's dishonesty cause quite the stir in Chester, particularly when it's revealed he's the father of teen Dawn Cunningham's daughter Bethany.
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At the time, Bethany needed a kidney transplant and Jack was the only option she had left to survive.
Celia eventually found out when Jude let the secret slip out in The Dog and she left Hollyoaks for America with Darren.
However, this wasn't the first time Jack had been unfaithful to Celia as Darren was revealed to be Sandy Roscoe's biological son, conceived during an affair with the pub landlord.
When Darren was born, Celia agreed to raise him as her own son.
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Two years after his departure for the United States, Darren came back to Hollyoaks without his adoptive mother.
Jack went on to begin a relationship with a widowed Jill Patrick and they got married in 1998.
When she was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2000, he decided to care for her children after her death - a promise he kept.
Jack married his third wife Frankie in August, 2005, and while he was accepted by her three children, Jake, Debbie and Craig, her daughter Steph Dean struggled to warm up to him.
The lovebirds withstood the test of time and overcame several marital difficulties but also went on to foster numerous children in need.
They most notably adopted an orphaned Tom Cunningham after Steph Dean passed away from cancer.
Tom had also been taken care of by his half-brother Max but he had been fatally hit with a car.
Frankie passed away from a stroke in 2017, leaving a lonely Jack to fend for himself once again.
Since her death, he has been rather unlucky in love as he most notably had another failed marriage with gold digger Darcy Wilde and an ill-fated relationship with serial killer Breda McQueen.
Jack lives with his son Darren and works at The Hutch.
Ruth Osborne
As mentioned above, Ruth is Jack and Celia Osborne's daughter and the half-sister of Darren Osborne.
She was portrayed by actress Terri Dwyer and first appeared in Hollyoaks in early 1996 before her family joined her.
While she started off being best pals with Dawn Cunningham, the reveal of the latter's affair with Jack resulted in Ruth becoming one of her sworn ennemies.
The friends eventually mended their relationship when Ruth found out Dawn had leukaemia.
Shortly after Dawn's death, Ruth tied the knot with Kurt Benson but their marriage collapsed when she found out he was having an affair with Kate Patrick.
Kurt left the village in January, 1999, and was killed in a jet ski accident five months later.
She then embarked on another romance with Lewis Richardson, with whom she'd shared a kiss while she was still married to Kurt and, after finding out she was pregnant, Ruth had an abortion.
Lewis found out and the pair's relationship turned into another nightmare for Ruth with him brutally attacking her.
Ruth was hospitalised after the assault and was later told that Lewis had committed suicide.
Once she was discharged, Ruth ended up in the same bed as Tony Hutchinson before leaving Hollyoaks for London in 2001.
Ruth came back to the village in 2003 for a short while but she was last seen in Hollyoaks in August, 2008.
Darren Osborne
While many viewers will know Ashley Taylor Dawson to be the one and only Darren Osborne, the character was originally portrayed by Adam Booth from 1996 to 1997.
Darren was a troublesome teenager and flirtatious in nature, which led him to embark on numerous brief relationships.
Over time, however, particularly after he encouraged his father Jack to fake his own death for life insurance money, Darren matured and changed his ways.
He tied the knot on a whim with Hannah Ashworth before finding love with Nancy Hayton, though the pair faced many challenges.
However, Darren discovered he was a father when an affair with Hannah's mother Suzanne left her pregnant with twins, Jack Jr. and Francine, who lived in Spain.
Darren and Nancy got married in 2012 and she became the legal carer of her nephew Charlie Dean.
After a miscarriage, Nancy gave birth to a premature son they named Oscar and, much like Jack Osborne Sr., Darren decided to take in Brooke Hathaway as a foster child.
Sienna Blake eventually drove a wedge between Nancy and Darren and they divorced a first time 2013.
They remarried a year later but decided to go through another divorce procedure in 2020, prompting Darren to reunite with ex-girlfriend Mandy Richardson.
They married in March, 2021, but were separated shortly afterwards when Darren found out Mandy knew about Charlie's false imprisonment for the murder of Jordan Price.
To top it all off, Darren had adopted Mandy's son, Darren Jr., who was actually Luke Morgan's biological child.
Darren married Nancy for a third time in June, 2022, and their daughter Morgan was born the following day.
Bethany Johnson
Bethany is another one of Jack's children but, as mentioned above, she was the product of his affair with a teen Dawn Cunningham.
The character was born in 1991 and was adopted by Dean and Jacqui Johnson.
She fell ill at the age of six, in 1997, and needed a kidney transplant.
When Dawn was no match, it was revealed that Jack was Beth's biological father and could potentially save her life.
Jude Cunningham tried to blackmail Jack with the secret but she ended up letting it slip while drunk in The Dog.
After some hesitation, Jack donated one of his kidneys to Beth, thus saving her life.
Seven years later, Beth (then played by Danielle Calvert) returned to the village to search for her biological parents before her big move to Australia.
Jack then informed her that her mother Dawn died from leukaemia in December, 1997, and told her that her maternal grandparents, Gordon and Helen Cunningham, had been killed in a car accident months earlier.
Beth still had the chance to meet her uncle Max, aunt Cindy and cousin Holly before moving to Australia.
Jack kept in touch with Beth and, in 2005, he invited her to his wedding to Frankie Dean.
Bethany was also invited to Max's wedding but was unable to attend the event as well as Max's funeral.
In 2017, Jack informed Beth of Frankie's death and visited her in Australia after the funeral.
When he returned, he told Cindy that Beth was doing well and still remembered her mother Dawn.
Barry Newton
As mentioned above, Jack has fostered numerous children throughout his years in Hollyoaks with Barry "Newt" Newton being one of them.
The biological son of Shelley Newton, played by Nico Mirallegro, Newt was fostered by the Osborne family from October, 2007, to June, 2010, when he returned to live with his mother.
Newt first arrived in Hollyoaks when he was fourteen years olf and was framed by his foster brother Darren for stealing Frankie's jewellery, which he needed to pay off his gambling debts.
The truth is eventually found out and Newt strikes up a friendship with fellow alternative teen, Lauren Valentine.
Nancy Osborne spends time with Newt to help him with his dyslexia and Jake Dean grwos jealous.
As a result, he made an anonymous phone call to the police, accusing Nancy of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage Newt.
Nancy is convinced Lauren is behind the phone call and attacks her while Newt takes the teacher's defence.
After getting involved in some of Hollyoaks' most dramatic storylines, Newt is asked by his mother to leave the village with her after she was offered a job in Scotland.
Newt agrees but, by this time, he's in a relationship with Rae Wilson, who cannot join him.
The teens have an emotional goodbye and Newt leaves for Scotland with his mother Shelley and younger brother Jensen.
In September, 2011, Darren phones Newt to tell him about Rae being murdered.
He has not been mentioned since.
Brooke Hathaway
Born in 2002 to the late Fran Hathaway, Brooke has had a troubled start to life.
They were close to their mother in early childhood but, sadly, Fran was sent to prison in 2006 after murdering Becca Hayton during a fight.
Brooke identifies as non-binary but their struggle to adapt to the world as an autistic individual has also inspired plenty of storylines in Hollyoaks.
The character played by Tylan Grant first rocked up the village to spy on Nancy Osborne but they were eventually fostered by her and her husband Darren.
Brooke was enrolled at Hollyoaks High and embarked on multiple romances, the most recent one being with Ripley Lennox.
They gave birth to a son named Thierry which was the product of their relationship with Ollie Morgan.
Jade Albright
The biological daughter of Lionel Albright, Jade (played by Kassius Nelson) first appeared in Hollyoaks in 2015.
At the time of her Hollyoaks debut, Jade was at the back of a car when Wayne was trying to force Sonia Albright to become a prostitute again.
After much turmoil, Jade was adopted by Jack and Frankie Osborne and grew close to Alfie Nightingale.
Her happiness was short-lived as she was diagnosed with cancer.
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She succumbed to the illness in October, 2016, and appeared to Alfie on numerous occasions since her passing.
Who else is in the Osborne family?
- Jack Osborne Jr. - son of Darren and Suzanne Ashworth
- Francine Osborne - daughter of Darren and Suzanne Ashworth
- Oscar Osborne - son of Darren and Nancy, born prematurely
- Darren Osborne Jr. - son of Mandy, biological son of Luke Morgan, adoptive son of Darren
- Morgan Osborne - daughter of Darren and Nancy
- Tom Cunningham - biological son of Helen and Gordon Cunningham, adoptive son of Jack and Frankie
- Kenneth Osborne - half brother of Jack
- Rachel Osborne - daughter of Kenneth and Amanda
- Natalie Osborne - daughter of Kenneth and Amanda
- Charlie Dean - nephew and adoptive son of Nancy