"Not Tony!" Fans stunned as Hollyoaks legend becomes Breda's next victim

In a game-changing cliffhanger Tony was left for dead by the chilling childminder after a showdown in which she admitted her twisted campaign to rid the world of 'bad dads', clutching his wound as he fell to the ground with his life literally flashing before his eyes, with old clips of Pickard's 24 years in the role and a ghostly appearance from dead son Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool) seemingly giving the actor an epic, emotional and totally unforeseen exit.

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July saw the God-fearing nanny, who believes she's on a mission from the Lord himself to protect vulnerable children with reprobate fathers, dispatch new dad Harry much to the horror of the audience, who had no idea Glasspool was leaving.

Tony's unexpected demise has really pulled the rug from under fans who are having a very hard time processing the news, with some threatening to boycott the show in protest.

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Pickard himself expressed surprise at the development, telling InsideSoap.co.uk: "I was shocked myself when I found out what was happening!" Asked how he thought fans would respond, he said: "You never know how these things are going to go, do you? There was outrage that Parry had gone, so I don't really know. Some people might be happy - they might be like, 'Thank God she stabbed Tony!'"

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However, some punters are not only upset they are flat-out refusing to believe it's true - and with the memory of Sienna Blake's fake death in 2018 Tony fans are keeping their fingers crossed he may have survived the attack. But would Hollyoaks have gone to all the trouble of the flashbacks, rain machine, epic crane shot and cameo from Harry if that were the case?

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The show has already teased the aftermath in Thursday 29th August's E4 showing in which Tony's friends and family grow concerned over his sudden disappearance, especially with a killer on the loose, and report him missing to the police. Breda is left panicking, so could Darren become her next target to silence him before he gets to the truth as to if Mr Hutchinson is alive or dead? And could he let us know once he does find out?

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