Following the news of Chris Fountain's (Justin) departure from HOLLYOAKS, we met up with the man himself to get all the goss on why he's leaving, and what his plans for the future are...

What made you decide to leave HOLLYOAKS?
It wasn't a set thing that made me decide to leave – it was a culmination of the fact that I have been here 5 years and that Justin has an opportunity to leave on a really good storyline.

I don't think there is really much more that can be done with Justin. I'm sure that everyone agrees that he's kind of been involved in every storyline for the past five years for which I am eternally grateful. It's definitely just a time thing really-I don't want to be typecast forever as Justin Burton, I have a different agenda for myself as an actor.

It's in no way me being unhappy at work, or me not enjoying the character because Justin is a perfect character to play for any actor I think, because there are so many different sides to him.

Was it a difficult decision to make?
As an actor, especially in a soap, it's a difficult step to take because you are in constant work, its good money, good lifestyle - so yeah it was a difficult decision to make. There is always that doubt that you might never get another job again but I'm 21. I'd like to do other things, maybe try films or drama, but I'm never going to know if I can do that unless I take the step of leaving Hollyoaks.

Have you got any plans yet?
No. I'm glad to have the opportunity to make this clear actually because a lot of people have been saying that I have been offered this stupid amount of money to do Dancing on Ice and that's the reason that I'm leaving Hollyoaks. It's nothing to do with that – I'm actually going to be doing both at the same time! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning will be at Hollyoaks. Friday afternoon will be travelling to wherever the tour is in the country then I will be doing shows Friday night, Saturday day and evening and another 2 shows on a Sunday then back to work on Monday.

I'm going to be doing that for a month and it's even more difficult because I've got a lot to do in that month at Hollyoaks. I've got all the stuff with Justin and Hannah, all my leaving storylines, the stuff with Warren...so it won't even be a quiet month at work!

Can you give us any clues about what is going to be happening to Justin in the next few months?
Well, there is a developing relationship between Justin and Hannah which develops one way - but I can't say which way. Warren's life starts unraveling a little bit and he sort of ropes Justin into his kind of world and that dark place that he's in. Justin is really trying to fight it because he’s got a good thing going on with Hannah, he wants to keep himself distanced but he ends up having no choice and something bad happens. Its good but I can't really give too much more away!

You have been playing Justin for five years. Do any highlights spring to mind?
There are so many! There are definitely different eras of Justin, like when I first got to Hollyoaks and we had the biggest family in the world. There was me, the twins, my mum, step-father, step-sister and step-brother. When I first started we used to film on the set of Brookside which was really fun because I got on really well with the lad who played my step brother, Luti, who played Ali. I remember one storyline when we moved into the bathroom. Basically, there wasn't enough space in the house and we were worried that the girls were getting too much time in the bathroom so we took the TV, the microwave the cooker - we took everything and moved into the bathroom. That was quite fun to film.

There was the stuff with Becca that we won best storyline for - I also really enjoyed all the stuff when I was on the run from the police.

Then there's the stuff with Warren and I love working with Jamie. He's a great actor and I'm sure he'll go on to do great stuff. When you work with good people like that you really do kind of feed off each other. Jamie's got a lot to offer me in terms of experience but I'm sure I've got lots to offer Jamie too. You're always learning in this show-we had all that stuff when we were digging up bodies. I'm surprised they haven't put Justin in a padded room somewhere because he has been through so much! He's got no family left – his mum left him, his sisters are dead, his dad’s dead, it’s probably best that he leaves to be honest before he goes mental!

Is it strange looking back at earlier episodes and seeing how you have changed?
Yeah, it's really strange. I started at Hollyoaks two days before my 16th birthday and I have kind of grown up at Hollyoaks. There was the time when I had all my hair shaved off, I've lost weight, put on weight and it's weird watching yourself. I'm still really critical of myself - every time I watch myself I pick out the bad things.

What do you think you will miss most about Justin and being in Hollyoaks?
I'll miss a lot! It's been my life now for a good 5 years – it's a long period of time if you think about it and I have grown into a man while I've been here. I think it will be an emotional day when I leave – I've got a lot of friends here and it's not just the cast. There's crew that have been here longer than me that I have grown up with and who have taught me a lot of things.

What sort of reaction have you had from the fans since the announcement that you are leaving?
I was looking on the forum the other day and the amount of people that were saying that they were disappointed that Jamie and I are leaving was really nice. My mum told me that the announcement had gone onto the website so I had a look to see what people were saying and it's very flattering to think that people don't want us to leave. Some of them were a bit extreme saying that the show was going to fall apart without us but at the same time it is very flattering for us! It's really, really nice to see all the people that are wishing us thanks and well wishes for the future. All I'm getting from people at the minute is positive things so it will be good to see where my career goes from here.