Is Hollyoaks on Tonight?
No, Hollyoaks is not on tonight in its usual E4 slot, as the soap has been bumped for live AFCON football coverage. E4’s normal 7 pm episode on Wednesday, 14 January 2026 has been pulled to make way for Nigeria vs Morocco in the second semi‑final, so anyone flicking over at the usual time will find live sport instead of Chester drama.
There also isn’t a “sneak‑early” online drop for this skipped episode, which means viewers have to ride out a short gap in the story rather than just hopping to streaming and catching it there.
When Do New Hollyoaks Episodes Come Out?
New Hollyoaks episodes now come out three nights a week, with a streaming‑first pattern and E4 following later the same day. Under Channel 4’s newer setup, fresh episodes premiere on Channel 4 Streaming at 7am Monday to Wednesday, then air on E4 at 7pm on those same evenings, with omnibus and catch‑up options available across Channel 4 Streaming and YouTube later on.
The move away from the old five‑nights‑a‑week model is part of a cost‑cutting and “digital‑first” strategy that has also shortened runtimes and shrunk the cast, something long‑time viewers will have noticed in tighter story pacing and fewer background characters.
For anyone trying to keep a simple mental schedule, it works like this in 2026:
-
New episode drops on Channel 4 Streaming: Monday–Wednesday, 7am.
-
Same episode then broadcasts on E4: Monday–Wednesday, 7pm.
-
Additional availability: later on Channel 4 Streaming and, with a delay, on YouTube.
Why is Hollyoaks not on Tonight?
Hollyoaks is not on tonight because E4 has temporarily removed it from the mid‑week schedule to show live AFCON football instead. The Nigeria vs Morocco semi‑final has taken the 7pm slot, which means no new Hollyoaks episode on E4 this Wednesday, and no corresponding early streaming episode tied to that broadcast.
More broadly, Hollyoaks has already gone through major schedule changes: it no longer airs in the classic 6.30pm Channel 4 slot and now lives primarily on E4 and streaming, with only three episodes a week instead of five.
Channel 4 has been open about why: audience behaviour has shifted heavily to on‑demand viewing, and the show’s budget has been tightened, so the soap survives by being leaner and more digital.
Nights like this – where a big live sports event pushes Hollyoaks out of its regular place – are likely to keep happening, so the safest way to follow the village drama is to treat the streaming drops as the “real” schedule and think of linear E4 as the bonus.
Disclaimer
Hollyoaks schedules, time slots, and episode availability can change at short notice because of live sport, special programming, or broadcaster decisions. The details given here reflect the most recent publicly reported schedule and may not match last‑minute changes. Viewers should always confirm timings in their local EPG or official apps.
