Hollyoaks is heading towards its 25th anniversary with some huge scenes coming up, from the stunts to the New Year surprises.

Mirror Online recently visited the set of the Channel 4 soap and had a look around, with a spokesperson for the show revealing some epic secrets viewers might not have known until now.

From re-used sets to hidden details about characters and locations, you might be surprised to learn what really goes on behind the scenes.

Here's some of the biggest show secrets we learned from our trip to Hollyoaks village…

It's much smaller off screen

This might be a matter of opinion, but it's a shared consensus by those who have visited the set that it seems so much smaller in real life.

While some of the locations, including The Dog jetty, seem bigger than they look on the telly, others including the village and the inside of the pub actually seem so much tinier.

Even some of the buildings appear closer together than they seem on camera.

The pig farm is much closer to the village than it seems

One of the biggest sets on the show at the minute is Breda McQueen's pig farm.

It's where the serial killer is currently holding Tony Hutchinson hostage – and we can confirm it smells as bad as it looks.

But something that will surprise you is that it's not a new set at all really, and has actually been transformed.

The pig farm used to be the motor garage owned by the Roscoe brothers, with Warren Fox and Darren Osborne later working there!

This means technically speaking, poor Tony has been in the village the entire time.

Cast holidays and fake tans

Viewers always notice when a cast member has been on holiday due to their glowing tans.

But the Hollyoaks make-up team are always prepared, and have a little regime ready to make it less obvious.

They confirmed: "When a cast member is planning to go on holiday, they are gradually given a tan before they go, using fake tan, so that when they come back to film the continuity change is not as obvious."

Then there's fan favourite Scott Drinkwell who is always tanned, with his character loving the bronzed look.

Actor Ross Adams who plays him actually has an extra deep spray tan every week for his character – that's commitment.

The team also told us: "Apart from tissues, wet wipes and hairspray, which we go through loads of, the other item is eyelashes.

"We use approximately 25-30 pairs in a week (depending which characters are scheduled in)."

The hospital and the police station are the same building

Something you might not have realised is the locations for the court, the hospital and the police station are all in the same main building, with the school also sharing the building in part.

Different corridors are for different sets, from hospital wings, to the police waiting area and even the classrooms – but they all reside in the same place, or are at least next to each other.

There's even a built prison cell thrown into the mix for when those characters get on the wrong side of the law.

The team also use the Lime Pictures offices in scenes where needed, for any office scenes mainly.

We were told: "Our most expensive set was the hospital set. For the hospital ward and the police station, we have researchers and medical advisors to check the set to make sure it is realistic and as up to date as possible."

The Dog jetty isn't attached to the pub

You might or might not be surprised to learn that the internal sets are not matched up to their relevant external sets.

The Dog pub has seen many dramas unfolding, with scenes often following the characters outside of the venue.

But the large jetty and outside area are not on the same location as the pub interior itself.

This is the same for most of the houses, venues and other locations, with the inside areas not directly next to or attached to the outside.

None of the houses are real, but the home that used to belong to the Ashworths and then the Roscoes, currently empty, does have a second floor and real stairs – not common in soap sets.

The McQueens' house used to be an on-set swimming pool

Tom Cunningham actor Ellis Hollins confessed to us on the set that he was left slightly gutted when the McQueen family rocked up.

But that was only because their house used to be the on-set swimming pool used by the cast.

The only thing is it had an age restriction, and when Ellis was finally old enough it was removed to make way for the McQueens' home.

Cast tattoos – real or fake?

Some tattoos viewers see on characters are in fact real, while some cast members have to cover up their inkings.

Leela Lomax actress Kirsty Leigh Porter and Maxine Minniver actress Nikki Sanderson are allowed to show their real-life tattoos on screen.

Nancy Osborne used to have a fake tattoo which was removed ‘by lasers’ as part of a storyline.

The team told us: "Some actors have tattoos in real life that have to be covered up for many reasons, like they are not suitable for the character or the tattoo being personal such as date of birth or a member’s family name.

"It is harder to cover up tattoos than apply them as the concealer needs to match each individual artiste’s colouring."

The supermarket is stocked with real food – partly

Most soap shops do not stock real food and drink, because it would be pretty expensive to keep them stocked up with products running out of date.

But there is something in Price Slice that is real – the sweets! The wine is not real though, and fake alcohol is used in scenes in the pub.

The Hutch actually has a fully functioning kitchen in its restaurant though, and while the cakes in the nearby café are fake the coffee machine and taps are real.

The Dog's pond doesn't have any fish

The water outside the pub is obviously real, but while there are real ducks swimming around it doesn't actually have any fish.

There is other pond life including plants, while we can confirm the boat docked by the jetty is real – for anyone who was wondering.

Soap firsts

Away from the sets and the make-up room, Hollyoaks has tackled a number of soap firsts on the show over the years.

From male rape, with both Luke Morgan and John Paul McQueen at the centre of their own male rape storylines, to Ste Hay being the first gay character in a soap to be HIV positive.

Hollyoaks was also the first soap to have a gay wedding, when Ste wed John Paul in 2014.

This year saw the show tackle a radicalisation storyline in another controversial plot.

Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6:30pm on Channel 4, with the next episode at 7pm on E4.

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