Hollyoaks’ Charlie Clapham breaks silence as his original song appears in Channel 4 soap
EXCLUSIVE: Hollyoaks actor Charlie Clapham has opened up about his song Time to Ride being used in the soap for the first time as his character Freddie Roscoe made a shocking return
Charlie Clapham has opened up about the debut of one of his original songs in Hollyoaks
Charlie Clapham, famed for his role as Freddie Roscoe in Hollyoaks, has opened up about the debut of one of his original songs in the hit Channel 4 soap.
The actor expressed feeling “very privileged” to hear his track Time to Ride play during a tense scene on Monday’s (March 24) episode, where Freddie is seen pulling a gun on his estranged wife Grace Blake (played by Tamara Wall).
Fans were gripped as Grace encountered Freddie unexpectedly back in the village, only to learn of his plans to sell his share of the garage and leave for good but the drama heightened upon her realisation that he was carrying a weapon.
Revealing how his music made it into the show, Charlie stated: “I’ve got this song on my TikTok called Time to Ride which started off as poem and I just put music to it.
“It’s about a guy coming back into town after a while. He’s coming into a storm and he’s got no horse or silver crown but it’s time to ride and I was thinking ‘this really fits’ to the storyline so I went over to the director and I showed him the TikTok.
“He asked if I had a professional recording and I didn’t so I drove back three hours to my hometown of Leicester that night and called my mate who had a recording studio and I was like ‘we need to record a song tonight’,” reports the Liverpool Echo.
Freddie Roscoe returned to the village to announce his plans to leave for good(Image: Lime Pictures)
“I recorded it, sent it over to the director and he put it in and showed the executive producer without saying anything. I wasn’t there but I’m told that Hannah [Cheers, executive producer] said ‘I really like this song but I’ve never heard it before, who is it?’ And he just turned around and said ‘It’s Charlie Clapham’.”
He added: “Watching the preview made me feel how I felt when I watched my first episode back in 2013. It hits you then like ‘I’ve got a song playing on national television’ it’s a bit of a buzz.
“They decided to put it in and instead of putting it in the opening of the scene, they put it at the closing part of the scene so it closes out the show. I’m very privileged and honoured that Hannah’s agreed to have it in the show. It doesn’t happen everyday.
“There’s a bit of a duality of my life and Freddie’s life so be able to take some my own feelings, write them down and for them to intertwine with Freddie’s story is pretty cool.”
Time to Ride was one of the first poems Charlie wrote after moving back to Liverpool to rejoin Hollyoaks following a seven-year hiatus.
Reflecting on his return, he shared: “When I came back there was an awful lot going on. I was here when I was younger, time had passed and I came back and then within six weeks we found out the show was moving to a new model.
“There was going to be changes and it did very much feel like coming back at the time of a storm and trying to navigate it through. I was sat in the pub one day between filming just writing this poem and then cut to a year later and here we are.
Charlie made his debut as Freddie back in 2013
Hollyoaks fans will be able to get their hands on Charlie’s track and there’s also some more music on the way from the soap star. The actor explained: “This version the song was recorded specifically with the show in mind.
“There will be another release of the song released further down the line with a collection of songs in an EP and/or an album but this version is going to be on Bandcamp.
“I’ve been writing poems and little bits and pieces for years but never had anything published, this is a first for me so it’s all new and fresh”.
