'Hollyoaks' Elliot 'exaggerates Welshness'

Hollyoaks star Garnon Davies has admitted that he exaggerates his Welsh background to play his character on the show.

The actor, who stars as Elliot Bevan in the Channel 4 soap, revealed that his origin helped him to get the part because producers thought it added to the character's geeky persona.

He told Wales On Sunday: "They really liked the Welsh thing - they went mad for it. They thought it just added to his geeky character. I had to ham up my Welshness to fit in with the odd perception of Wales the producers had.

"The Welsh seem to have a very strange stereotype. I remember one episode when Steph had to pretend to be my Welsh girlfriend for my parents – they had her making Welsh cakes and wearing a garland of leeks and singing old Welsh songs."

Speaking of similarities between Elliot and himself, Davies added: "We are both terrible worriers and I realised we both like our own company. I love having lots of time to myself and Elliot is obviously a bit of a loner."

Davies announced earlier this year that he was quitting the show after four years.