'Hollyoaks' star Aedan Duckworth admits a "pathetic" real-life injury left him and his character Ollie Morgan on crutches.

Aedan Duckworth

Aedan Duckworth

The 19-year-old actor has revealed why his alter ego has needed help hobbling round lately, and the full story isn't as exciting as he'd have liked.

He said: "It sounds pathetic, and I wish I had a really cool story, like I was fighting a grizzly bear, or a shark or something.

"In all honesty, I was playing football. I did it in November, and I will have a big fat brace on my leg until March.

"Initially, I thought I'd be up and running before new year ... yeah that's not happened. I'm glad I'm off crutches to say the least."

Aedan revealed the injury caused some issues on set, particularly while filming scenes where he sneaks into The Loft using a fake ID.

He added: "I got there, and then our lovely director Vito Bruno said, 'You'll be chatting up girls and dancing with crutches', I had to soldier on with no music and crutches.

"The crutches made bumping into people, which I had to do, a lot easier - that was the only positive I got from having crutches. It was a laugh and it ended up looking really good."

Aedan's character has been struggling lately after Ollie and Brooke Hathaway (Taila Grant) gave up their baby for adoption, and he admitted his character has had a tough time.

He said: "He has not had much luck in the village has he?! It's just another thing to add on to the pile, and Ollie is such a young lad.

"From Brooke getting pregnant, debating whether to bring a new child into this world, and then finding out his dad's got a terminal illness, it's all devastating."